A Royal Hoax
by Shelly-Sells-SheaShells
Summary: Traveling along with his crazy brother, a French pervert, and a pasta-loving airhead on a hare-brained scheme to fool the government was NOT how Ludwig wanted to spend the next month.
1. Chapter 1

**Arthur's Note: **Hey there! This was originally very heavily based on one of my favorite child hood movies, but I got sick of trying to follow its storyline and started to change everything, so now it's something different. There still some parallels to it (so it should be pretty easy to guess which movie it's based on) but it was changed so much it could no longer be called something that follows the original story. I hope now it can be a story that is able to stand on its own.

This is my first fan-fic, so hope you all enjoy~

* * *

_Back in the days where the Monarch and nobles ruled _-in the final days that is, but that's part of the story, duh-_ there was unrest among the common people. In these trouble times the King decided to hold a big party! _–or ball whatever-_ That really didn't make the poor people any happier, it sorta got them more angry_, –I don't see why, I mean, everyone loves parties!-_ so those guys decided they would, like , rebel and stuff. _

_So while the King invited all the nobles and stuff to the big party, the people decided that they had had enough of them being poor and those other guys being like, rich or something.-_I don't really remember all of the reasoning behind all this, but that like, isn't the focus of the story anyways-_ so when all of the rich people were gathered in one place they raided the Palace and like did stuff_. –Overthrew people whatever, you guys should already know all this!-_ But the King had seen the people coming (like I think most people would notice a mob outside their house) and he realized there was no hope for him blah blah blah and decided he would like, save his kids and stuff. _–Now we reach the main point of the story!-  
_  
So yeah, he had these two kids. One girl and one boy. So the King instructed the older brother to look after his younger sister_ –Who was only five! Isn't that, like, totally sad!- _and sent them off in this carriage before the peasants reached the palace. So the kids weren't there for, like, the stuff that went down. _

_Anyways! We don't really know exactly what happened after that, but like this empty carriage was found a couple days after wards. It looked like the escaping royalties ended up running into some of the peasants after all. There was this skirmish or something, with a couple of dead guys at the site even! The older brother had fought with them in an attempt to protect his sister_–Its not like a five year old could be the one who fought them, obviously-_ and some people even say that his body was one of those recovered at the site! _–It doesn't really help that hardly any one agrees on what the royals look like any more, with the majority of the paintings of them being burned down (along with most of the palace).-

_But I like happy endings so I say he also escaped! Whatever. But one thing everyone agrees on was that the five year old princess was no where to be found. She ran off and was, like, never seen again!_

_To this day she lives! One of the last of the royal line, living her life normally among us! Isn't that, like, exciting! _

_She is the **Runaway Princess!**_

Sparse and spread out clapping could be heard from the small crowd that had gathered around the bard as he finished his tale. "Thanks everyone! And I know that, like, other people tell different versions of this story, but mine is totally how it really happened! I swear!" The man and the rest of the bystanders then went their separate among the busy streets of the city.

Gilbert, meanwhile, was getting irritated.

People were pushing him, trying to force their way through the moving crowd. Now that the bard had finished his tale, most of those who had previously gathered to hear the story began to resume their shopping in the already crowded marketplace. He though, stayed still, causing a bit of traffic as people passed by him on their way to stalls. The pushing crowd was enough to get him agitated, but the story had also reminded him of why he was here in the first place, and while renewing his excitement, it also increased his impatience for his friend to arrive.

Where was Francis?

He was supposed to have caught a train and arrive in the city by late afternoon so that he could meet him in the marketplace before night fell. Though Gilbert's train had arrived earlier then expected he still had been waiting way longer then he should have.

It was getting late, it would be nighttime soon. The sun was already setting, casting an orange haze across the sky. _Maybe he missed his train? _Gilbert really hoped that wasn't the case. If he didn't find Francis soon he would have to leave him behind to fend for himself.

In a growing sense of panic he made another scan across the crowd. Things seemed to be dying down now that it was getting darker, though there were still many people out shopping yet.

At first it seemed like Francis still hadn't arrived, but then through the crowd he saw that familiar blond head of hair. He headed toward the stall where his friend currently was. It was a small shack, tucked in between the other multiple shops.

He could see his friend talking to a dark man who had to be the owner of the shop. He shoved his way through the crowd, wondering what the other man could have found that was so important that he had to buy now. Reaching the shack he could finally see the object in Francis' hands.

He was haggling over a coat of all things.

"What are you doing?! We don't have time for that." Gilbert made a move to grab his friend and leave, but Francis intercepted him. "This man says that this coat used to belong to _her_. It could be helpful to our cause, no?" Gilbert paused, listening to Francis, then grabbed and looked over to the article of clothing he was referring to. It seemed like a regular long brown coat. But on the inside …was that real fur?

It seemed unlikely to find such a rare treasure in a local shop, as most of the clothes from the royal family had been scattered and bought up long ago. Not to mention that the coat looked fit for someone quite, well, _older_ then the person Francis insinuated it belonging to. -Though it could belong to the mother of said person- if it was really belonged to any of the Royal Family it could still be useful… but it was just more likely that it was a common fake.

"You have quite an excellent eye!" The merchant began to readdress Francis, taking him aside as Gilbert began to more thoroughly inspect the coat. "I swear to you my good man, it is the real thing! I got that from the Palace itself not long after the Fall. I just recently rediscovered it in my attic the other day."

"Tis a beautiful piece of clothing" Francis had always been particularly good at haggling. "140 rubees."* The merchant was aghast. "Merely 140?! I just told you this came from the palace itself!" "Oui, but many make such a claim my friend. But how can I be sure you are not… 'pulling the wool over our eyes' as they say… or perhaps it will be better if we take our business elsewhere."

The merchant was unsure what to do with his authenticity in question. His eyes went in a panic, eventually resting on a stall a ways back. Francis followed the path of the mans eyes and smiled. He had him right where he wanted him. "I've heard good things about Herc's Bargains." The merchant reluctantly decided to give in, not willing to let his rival take yet another one of his costumers. Just as he was about to verbally agree to the meager price, he was interrupted by a nearby voice.

"Hey Francis! I found the royal seal on this thing!" Gilbert was proud that he had been able to spot something his old-friend had missed. _Obviously because I'm awesome._

Francis, on the other hand, couldn't help but groan and put his head in his hands. I was THIS close…! He looked up to find the dark merchant smiling. Now that his claim was proven, he confidently held out his hand. "190 rubees."

Francis let out another groan, knowing he had lost. He handed the man the money and headed back onto the main street. Gilbert followed, clutching their newly-owned coat.

Catching up to Francis, Gilbert excitingly said. "This will do great! Pretty good win, huh?" _Could have cost me less_ Francis thought, but he digressed. "So who are we meeting here again? And are you sure he won't mind us intruding in his house?"

"Nah, my brother is used to me randomly crashing at his place. All we gotta do is convince him to help us, and we'll be set for life!" They continued onward to their destination. "Do we really need him? I'm not exactly keen on splitting the money up even further." Gilbert could understand Francis' hesitance, usually it's the more money the better, right? But they needed West to pull this off. "Trust me, he used to work at the Archives. We need him for this!"

They continued walking at that, heading into the residential area of the large city. After getting lost a couple times –Gilbert really should write down his brother's address sometime- they eventually found the house they were looking for. It was one of the more smaller houses in the area, with a plain and orderly look about it.

First they tried knocking on the door, but there was no answer. Getting tired of waiting Gilbert collected the spare key out from under the welcoming mat –West wasn't that creative- and let themselves in. Once inside Francis was slightly surprised to find just how bare it was. The walls were empty of any paintings or such that one would expect to find at a home. Gilbert was unaffected by this -as he said earlier, it wasn't his first time at his brother's house- and made himself completely at home on a large green couch (so far the only piece of furniture Francis could see).

"HEY WEST, ITS ME. YOU THERE?" Gilbert waited for a response, and not face with any, jumped off the couch."HELLO?"

Still no answer.

"Maybe he hasn't arrived home yet?" Francis offered. Gilbert shook his head. "He should of gotten off of work hours ago, and I highly doubt he decided to suddenly get a social life. He's probably just sleeping or something." Gilbert then began to search the rest of the house for his brother. There were only about five rooms total in the house, so this did not take long. But after looking everywhere he could possible think of, Gilbert could no longer deny it.

No one was home.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

*- just a type of money I made up...hehe

Sorry its cut so short! It was originally much longer, so I cut it short, as having the first chapter being mega long might scare away some future readers ^_^"

Most of the second chapter is already written, and should be up in the next few days.

Okay! **GAME TIME: **Can you name 3 of the Hetalia characters that weren't named but appeared in this chapter? Two of them are probably really easy _"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** Hey guys! Second Chapter, YAY! Its a bit longer then the first, I hope you don't mind...

Anyways, Thanks to everyone who reviewed or alerted my story and such! I appreciate it a lot, and I'm very grateful! Congrats to everyone who won the game (and even those who didn't!). It was Poland (the bard), Turkey (the merchant), and Greece (the merchant's rival) who were in the last chapter.

Well I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

* * *

He had stayed longer then usual at the factory, after a minor incident had required him to stay behind and clean up. He didn't quite understand what had happened, but it still took forever to get _whatever_ it was off the floors. It wasn't necessarily his job to clean up after such messes -In fact, he was just another one of the many people who worked at the assembly line-, but he ended up playing the role of janitor quite regularly despite that.

He didn't enjoy his new job, in fact, he absolutely hated it. It wasn't the repetition of the job, no he was very good at that, it was more the impact that his work had on the world. Or lack there of. Ludwig was a man who liked to feel that what he was doing was important, which was hard to feel making cuckoo clucks for a living.

He supposed he had been happier working in the Archives, sorting out data from around the country. Back then he had been doing something worth while. The Archives were an integral part of the government, containing information and important files of the past and present.

But he had had to leave that job, and Ludwig wasn't the type to dwell on the past. He needed this job for his livelihood, and the best thing to do right now was to look forward to going home after a long day at work. Which was what he was doing now, of course.

Keeping his eyes straight ahead he continued walking on the path home. The street he was walking on was known to be on what could be considered the wrong part of town, and while he was used to going this way in the late afternoon, it was now very dark out. It had been a long time since he had been out this late, and he was in a hurry to get home.

He avoided looking at the lying forms on the ground. Even though times had considerably improved since that of the Fall, it was still hard to find jobs and a secure source of income. Ludwig did feel for those less fortunate then him –he still remembered the time when that had been him- but he really did not have any money to spare at the moment.

He kept up a brisk walk through the troubled street when, all of a sudden, he found that his path was blocked by a young man lying across the sidewalk. He stopped for a moment, and was about to politely ask the man if he would move, when he noticed that the man was asleep.

The sleeping man was cleaner then most of the people around this area, and Ludwig briefly wondered if this was his first night out here, before trying to walk around him. After making sure that it was empty, he stepped onto the road and walked passed him and back onto the sidewalk. He was about to continue on his way, when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.

Hoping that he had not woken the man up, he felt inclined to turned around, and saw that the man's hand had moved to rest on part of the road. He didn't know the man, but that didn't mean he wanted his hand to be run over by a passing car. So he walked back up to the him, crouched down, (and feeling very uncomfortable doing so) grabbed the man's hand and moved it towards a safer resting place.

This woke him up.

Brown eyes glanced up at him, before Ludwig quickly looked away. The sudden eye contact was incredibly awkward, especially considering how close he was to the man's face. Embarrassed at being caught in such a strange position he quickly shot up, and without a word, began to walk -quickly walking is **not** running- away.

Ludwig hoped that walking away would prevent any further contact. "Hey! Hey Mister!" No such luck. The young man quickly caught up to Ludwig._ Oh great, now he's following me._ "I need some help!" Ludwig kept on walking, but the man followed. "I'm very sorry, but I have no money on me." He hoped that would stop him.

"Money? Ve~ I just want directions to the Train Station." Ludwig stopped walking and faced the man, slightly relieved at this but still wary. "The Train Station you say?" The man nodded. "It's closed at this time at night." The man looked crestfallen at this, making him feel slightly guilty –it wasn't really his fault, but the man's expression made him feel bad nonetheless-. "Its open tomorrow morning though." Ludwig said, hoping this would fix the man's problem. He did indeed look brighter at this, and smiled gratefully. "Thanks! I'll just go back to sleep then."

Ludwig looked on in shock as the young man began walking to his previous spot on the ground. An involuntary "Wait" left his mouth before he could stop, and the man turned back and looked at him.

Ludwig cursed inwardly as the man's attention was put back on him. Now he didn't know what to say. "Um… Your going to sleep out here?" Was all he managed to think of. The man looked at him, looking slightly confused, and replied. "Of course. It makes no sense to walk all the way home now. I'll just go to station in the morning."

So he did have a home. That made it even more confusing as to why he would choose to sleep on the streets, unless his home was really that far...

Ludwig still remembered what it felt like to sleep on the cold concrete, and he felt bad for the friendly-looking man. And there was something about him, he couldn't quite put his finger on it...But he found himself wanting to help this person he had just met.

It wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, but if he was going to leave in the morning…

"You could stay at my house." It felt strange saying that, it really did. Letting someone who he had just met sleep under the same roof as him? He would probably steal some of the few things he had. But something told him he could trust this man. Maybe he had met him before? He doubted it, unless this man was someone he had worked with in the past, that he had simply forgotten about. Even if he rarely socialized with his co-workers he would still be willing to help them if they had fallen on some hard luck.

"Ve! You would do that for me? You're so nice!" The man jumped up and down, and began walking back towards Ludwig with an incredible happy look on his face. _Well its too late now_ Ludwig thought as he began heading home, now with the man following him.

Not wanting the entire walk home to be awkward, Ludwig wondered if he should say something. But he didn't have to wonder long before his new companion began an outburst of nearly incomprehensible "thank you"s.

"-your one of the nicest people I have ever met! Ve~ Thank you so much! I'll forever be grateful-" "Its fine." Ludwig interrupted, tired of the constant praise. "Just please don't take anything from my house… um" He realized he hadn't learned the man's name yet, and hoping that he would not feel too offended -in case he was an old colleague- , he decided it would be best to ask now rather then later.

"…What is your name, by the way?"

"I would never take anything from you! Oh! My name is Feliciano, though some people call me Feli. What's yours?" "Ludwig."

_So he isn't an old co-worker_ Ludwig thought, not sure how to feel now that he knew for sure that he was letting a complete stranger in his house.

Feliciano waited for Ludwig to speak again, but after he remained silent, Feliciano began rambling again. They continued walking like this till they finally reached Ludwig's house.

* * *

Reaching the door Ludwig realized that the it was slightly open. Today was just not his day. Besides having an unexpected guest –well, it was his fault for inviting him- now he was going to have to deal with a potential break-in. "West! Your home! What the hell took you so long?!"

His worry quickly turned into exasperation when he heard his brother's familiar voice use that stupid nickname (coming from the kitchen it sounded like). Ludwig sighed and turned to who he **thought** was going to be his only guest that night. "I apologize in advance for my brother." Feliciano was only able to let out a small "huh?" before Gilbert walked out of the kitchen to greet Ludwig.

"Dude, you really need to go grocery shopping. There's like no food in there. Oh, and I drank all your beer. Hey, who's your friend?" Ludwig sighed. "Gilbert, what are you doing here?" Gilbert switched his attention from Feliciano back to Ludwig. "I gotta talk to you about something. It's gonna be totally awesome." Gilbert, not explaining any further, then proceeded to head back into the kitchen.

Ludwig could already feel a headache coming on.

"You can sleep in the guest room. It's the second door on the left, if you want to go there now." Feliciano shook his head and followed Ludwig as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Your brother seems nice! Do you two live together? Is it just you guys, or do you leave with some other people too? Your house is very clean! Have you eaten yet? It's been a while since I ate so I'm a little hungry-" _This guy sure does talk a lot_ Ludwig thought, not really paying attention to what his guest was saying. He was too surprised by the sight waiting for him in the kitchen to pay Feliciano any mind.

The kitchen was a complete mess.

"Gilbert, what did you do." He really shouldn't have expected any thing less, as his brother always seemed to make a mess every time he visited.

"Huh? Oh yeah. We got hungry waiting for you, so Francis here made us some dinner." It was only then that Ludwig noticed the blond man sitting at the kitchen table. Oh great. He brought over another "guest". His house really seemed to be getting full as of late.

"Gilbert said you wouldn't mind if we used your food." The blond man –Francis, if he heard Gilbert correctly- said. Ludwig really hoped that his brother and his friend hadn't wiped out all of his food supply. He hadn't eaten since this morning when he left for work.

Walking up to his refrigerator, however, revealed that the contents of it were indeed devoid of any food. He didn't even think that was possible.

"Did you really have to use all of my food?" He knew he didn't have that much food to begin with, but there should have been enough left over for him and Feliciano, if his brother and his friend had eaten a regular dinner.

"I make it a priority to always make exceptional meals when cooking." Francis said, thinking that this was enough of an excuse for using up so much food.

"Ve~ Ludwig, if you don't mind me using the kitchen, I can make some dinner for us." Feliciano remarked, pulling something -was that pasta?- from his coat.

"Feliciano, why were you carrying around a packet of pasta?" While he was grateful that he was going to at least eat something tonight, it still didn't make any sense.

"I always carry some pasta with me! Why would I leave home without some food?"

And with that, Feliciano began to make a meal for the two of them. Ludwig just sighed and sat down at the kitchen table with Gilbert and Francis.

"Seriously West, who is that guy?" He hadn't answered him the first time Gilbert asked. Ludwig decided it was probably best that he satisfied his brother curiosity.

"Feliciano. He's staying over for the night." Knowing his brother would probably make some perverted joke over the situation he quickly changed the subject -though that didn't usually stop Gilbert-. "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Whatever. Look, West-" Gilbert then looked over to Feliciano, who seemed to be totally engrossed chopping up some tomatoes -where did those come from?!- before he continued in a lowered voice. "Have you heard about the announcement that the government made a week or so ago?"

Gilbert took Ludwig's strange look as a no. "Well, have you at least heard of the Runaway Princess or whatever they're calling her now?"

"Yes, but, Gilbert where are you going with this?" Ludwig didn't understand why his brother was seemingly so concerned about Feliciano overhearing them.

"You see- The government hasn't touched the inheritance that the old king left his daughter. And for some reason or another they made a public statement asking the princess to come forward and collect her money before the month ends!" Gilbert waited for the realization to settle in. "Don't you see what this means?"

"No. I don't." Ludwig didn't understand why his brother was so concerned, unless...

"What your brother is saying is that he's thought of an idea to collect the money." Francis said, confirming Ludwig's thought that it involved another of his brother's hair-brained plans.

"Your seriously not thinking about trying to trick the government, are you? Gilbert, that never works for you." Ludwig really wished Gilbert would just get a job, so he wouldn't have to give him money when his cons didn't work.

"This isn't like the other times! This one is gonna be totally awesome!" Gilbert said a little too loudly. He checked around to make sure Feliciano was still pre-occupied before continuing in a quieter voice.

"Me and Francis rented out a theater. We're gonna hold these auditions, you know, find us a girl and present her as the missing princess."

"Gilbert, this is the government we're talking about. You can't expect to just show up with some girl and have them hand over the money to you." Ludwig had to talk some sense into his brother. If _he_ could come up with this idea, then there were surely others who had thought the same thing. The government wouldn't make such a claim without first being prepared for fakes.

"That's the beauty of it West! You see, Francis used to work for the Government before he was fired off his ass-" Francis shot him a glare."...uh...put into early retirement. He was still working for them when they planned out this whole thing."

Francis took over explaining then. "Before leaving my employment, I thought I might take some _souvenirs _to remember it by. Just some copies of papers and such that I thought might prove to be useful to me one day. When Gilbert came to me with his plan, hoping I could assist him, I searched through the files to find something that could assist us. Surprisingly I found multiple notes on the project, including some of the trails the future "princess" would be put through to show her authenticity."

Ludwig still looked skeptical. Gilbert decided it was time to hammer it home.

"We'll know what questions they'll ask us and everything! We'll be more prepared then anyone else trying to get the dough. We'll also have something else that no one else has."

Gilbert had a strange, almost excited, look on his face. Realizing that his brother was waiting for him to make a comment, probably so he could make a dramatic statement -His brother tended to make most of their conversations more dramatic then he would like them to be when it came to his crazy plans-. He decided to bite the bullet. "And what would that be?" He really hoped this wasn't going where he thought it was...

"You." Gilbert had a confident smile on his face. He really thought Ludwig wouldn't refuse to join him on this crazy plan. _Here we go._

"No." Ludwig sighed. "I told you before, I work for my money. I won't help you on some crazy scheme to con money from hard working people."

"The money doesn't belong to any one, it's just lying there, waiting for someone we both know will never come. Come on Ludwig! I-We need you for this! You used to work in the Archives!" He didn't see how that was relevant to their conversation. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Don't you see? You, more then any of the people in this kingdom, have had access to all the available information about the princess! You have to remember _some_ of the information you organized on them. Besides, I know for a fact that you still have some of your notes on the Royals, I found them in your bedroom while you where gone."

Ludwig probably should have been angrier with Gilbert for touching his belongings, but he knew what his brother was like. He was more disappointed in himself, how he had kept those notes around for so long, even though all they did was cause him headaches.

Gilbert had expected his brother to yell at him for that, but seeing him make no comment, he continued on."You could teach all your information to the girl we end up getting, and we'll be prepared for whatever those government guys throw at us!"

He didn't say anything. "Ludwig.... I'm really serious about this one. It won't work without you." Even though he didn't quite believe it, he had to admit that this was more thought out then anything else Gilbert had ever come up with. _He is serious about this_ Ludwig realized, though he was still not sure whether or not that was good.

"Just look around this place! There's even less stuff then the last time I came here. Your new job obviously isn't paying you enough. You could use the money. Not to mention, since we already know the questioning that the gov. guys will put us through will take place in the Archives, you could get your old job back again if you came with us!"

His brother had a point. Ludwig was running out of money. The factory wasn't enough to support them both -since Gilbert refused to get a job, and none of his previous cons had ever worked- not like his old job had. Ludwig still remembered what his life was like back when he worked in the Archives. He had been happy there, in a manner of words. Even if his brother's idea didn't work -which it wouldn't, he was sure of that- it might still be worth it to tag along if he could get to the Central City again. Though he would obviously have to quit his current job to go on this charade, and that made him financially vulnerable...

"I'll think about it."

"YES!" Gilbert loudly jumped out of his seat in excitement, sure that he had won over his brother.

"What are you guys talking about?" While also forgetting that he was _trying_ not to get the attention of the previously-busy-cooking Feliciano.

"Uh-"

"Oh, don't worry. We were just discussing whether or not Ludwig over here should join us on a trip of ours, and Gilbert here got a little overexcited." Feliciano's mouth made an "O" shape, and brought the pasta he had finished cooking over to the table.

_ It's a good thing that Francis is such a smooth talker, or we might have had to split the prize money again just to keep this guy quite. _Gilbert thought,_ though by the looks of it, it wouldn't take much of Francis' skills to trick this guy._

Ludwig could smell the pasta that Feliciano now handed toward him on one of his own plates. Being as hungry he was at that point he immediately dug into the meal, not looking up as Feliciano sat down on the last of the available chairs at the table. "So your planning on traveling soon? Me too! When are you all planning on leaving?"

He barely heard Francis reply, as occupied as he was with his food. Ludwig was impressed. He thought it was incredible that anyone could cook something this good with so little resources.

"-we plan to get out of here late tomorrow actually, We're catching a train to Central City." Ludwig looked up from his food to glare at his brother. "You didn't say it would be tomorrow." Gilbert returned the stare with a shrug. "What did you expect? The latest someone can make a claim for the money is only till the end of the month, so we have to move fast." Ludwig sighed, that gave him even less time to decide.

He finished the rest of his meal, idly listening to everyone else talk. He only heard periodic bits of the conversation, as he was mostly busy trying to weigh the pros and cons of going along with his brother's crazy request. He had almost missed his brother's offer to clean the kitchen that night -trying to kiss up no doubt- so occupied was he in his thoughts.

Ludwig was still unsure what to do by the time he had went up to his room for the night. He would just have to sleep on it.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Well that's the end of Chapter Two! I hope I got Ludwig's personality right... I worry sometimes that I write these guy's out of character, which something I strive to avoid.

I think I might start getting in the of writing each chapter in a different character's perspective. I didn't plan it that way, but I guess its starting to turn into that

Okay! I got another game for you guys! What do you think the mess was at the factory? Feel free to guess, since I'm too lazy to think up of what it was. XD

The next chapter should be up around the weekend, so see you then!


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note:** UGGGH I am SO sorry this is late! I had such problems with my computer! It wouldn't turn on all week, and when it did it just shut down at random times! But it's working now, so that's good.

And also, THANK YOU!! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, or favorited, or watched. I really appreciate it. Just had to say that.

Shorter chapter then last time, mostly because this is a little break from the main story. Its a little side-plot that will show up every couple of chapters or so. . .Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Arthur had been preparing for this project for almost a year. A year of planing, scouring the Archives for old files, and spending nights up taking notes. When his boss had assigned him this project when it was still just a proposal, Arthur had taken it seriously. Now, finally, the moment he had spent so long preparing for was here.

Now if only his partner would show up.

Really, why they would ever assign him a partner was beyond him! He completely capable of handling this himself! If he had ever needed help, then it would have been during the early stages of the project when he had busted his ass getting information. But no! His boss decided to assign him a partner out of the blue a **day** before the project was open to the public!

He had held onto the hope that he would be given someone competent, but after a week of hearing nothing from his supposed partner, he was starting to have doubts. His only comfort was that whoever it was, it could not be Francis. Fortunately that frog had been fired for having connections with thieves and the like (though in his opinion, he should have been fired long ago for not being able to keep his hands to himself, the bloody pervert). Sure that it could not be his rival, he had a small hope that his partner had just not been able to contact him, and in reality was entirely reliable and suitable for the job._  
_

This hope was completely gone now that he (or she for all he knew) was late to question their first claim. The girl in the adjoining room was still waiting for her questioning, and had been doing so for nearly an hour now. Arthur decided that he would just go in and do this himself, his partner be damned.

Just then, there was a large bang as the door was kicked open.

"The hero has arrived!"

No.

No no no no no no... He didn't even have to look to see who that was, he knew that voice. He would almost rather have Francis as a partner than _this_ man.

"Alfred, why the _hell_ did you knock down the door?!" There he was, that blond haired blue-eyed idiot, wearing a wide grin while standing over by the door (thankfully, it wasn't broken).

"Dramatic entrance?" Alfred shrugged, causing Arthur to get even more irritated. "You're late!"

"Oh. Sorry. What are we supposed to be doing anyways?" Arthur repressed the urge to scream in aggravation. THIS was his partner?! The idiot didn't even know what they were doing!

Trying his best not to yell, he explained the situation to Alfred. "We are the people in charge of the _Inheritance _project. The one that almost everyone in the county has heard of? Ring a bell? Our job is to interview those who claim to be the princess, and stop impostors from collecting the money that belongs to her, until the months end. In the adjoining room is a girl claiming to be the missing princess, and we were supposed to question her_ an hour _ago. Since you have decided to finally show your face, we can now do so." The last words came out harsher then he had intended, but Alfred took it in stride.

"Alright! Looking for a princess is a worthy job for a hero like me!"

Arthur sighed, and opened the door to the room containing the supposed "princess". He collected the papers containing the questions he would ask her before entering. Alfred followed and let out an appreciative whistle upon seeing the layout of the room.

Arthur knew it was impressive, that had been his intent when choosing it as the place where the interviewing would take place.

It was both wide and tall, and had elaborate designs on the walls. Even the furniture was beautiful, with rich deep purples and reds that were rarely seen on fabric. This was one of the few rooms salvaged when the Palace was lit on fire. When the Palace was rebuilt into the Archives this was kept in its former glory, becoming a type of reading room only used by high government officials. Arthur figured that holding the interviews here would make it easier for finding out impostors. Because only very high officials had ever had the chance to see the room he figured that commoners -which was what most of the impostors were- would be easily shaken surrounded by all the grandeur.

The young girl waiting for them was indeed impressed, eyes wide as she took in all the details of the room, obviously still awed-struck despite having been there for an hour already. She was sitting on one of the larger sofas in the room, fidgeting as she saw the men come in.

Arthur grabbed a chair and placed himself near her, with Alfred following suit.

She looked incredibly small, her back against the large headboard of the coach that was tall enough to reach past her head. Her eyes briefly looked over them before quickly glancing away.

She was obviously nervous, and Arthur wondered whether or not she had come here on a whim.

"Hi there! So you say you're the princess, huh?" Alfred said loudly, breaking the small moment of silence.

The girl looked at them, clearly trying her best to keep her eyes steady. "...Yes. Yes I am." There was very little confidence in her words, and Arthur could already tell that it would be easy to disprove any lies she had come up with. It was time to begin.

"We're here to see whether or not that's true. We would like it if you could answer some questions for us." Arthur said, waiting until the girl gave a small nod before continuing with the first question.

However, before he could begin, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Alfred had moved his chair closer to Arthur's and was leaning over to whisper in his ear. "Hey, can I ask the questions?"

Why he needed to be so bloody close to ask that was beyond him. But he was willing to ignore it if Alfred was actually taking this seriously.

Perhaps, just perhaps, Alfred _did_ prepare for this if he was able to come up with his own questions. He quickly agreed to his request, moving his chair to get some distance between them -so that Alfred's stupidity wouldn't spread to him, of course. No other reason, he assured himself-.

He waited to see if Alfred had in fact prepared some challenging questions for the girl. But Arthur was greatly surprised -He refused to be disappointed, for that would mean he had _expected_ something from him- to hear what Alfred came up with.

"What's your name?"

Really!? Of all the fucking things to ask! That-that was just too simple! How did Alfred expect to catch any impostors with questions like that?!

But Arthur was even more surprised by what happened next.

The girl couldn't answer.

It was- it was unbelievable! Surely she must at least know the princess' name? She wouldn't have come that unprepared would she?

However as the questioning went on it became clearer and clearer that the girl truly didn't know anything. Even when though Alfred's questions were so simple (such as "Where were you born?", "How old was your brother?", and the like) she either couldn't answer, or had an answer that was completely off the mark! It was a bloody marvel!

Arthur had assumed that all of the citizens had known such trivia... could he have overestimated them? Arthur had always tried to make a point to learn such things, had he been wrong in assuming that everyone else did too? Arthur felt incredibly stupid.

He had spent months and months preparing various complicated questions to ask. He was sure that he could outsmart any impostor- no matter how prepared they may be!-. But looking at Alfred ask things that he probably thought off the top of his head, Arthur wondered if he had made everything more complicated then it needed to be. It was as if all the hard work he had done was pointless.

Maybe he was taking it too personally. He should be happy that this whole thing was going to be easier then he thought, right?

. . .

_Hell! I didn't spent a year of research just to be up-showed by Alfred!_

Arthur was definitely brooding now, growing more and more upset as his partner continued to do the job that was originally assigned to him. He barely heard the dark girl's soft whisper of surrender.

"I'm...I'm sorry. I'm not really the princess. My name is Seychelles, and I just had the random idea to see if I could get the money.....please don't arrest me." Arthur could see the tears in her eyes as she pleaded with them, and his heart went out to her.

He tried to calm down a bit from his anger, it was best to look on the positive side of things. Their first questioning went well, and the girl -Seychelles, he remembered her saying- easily owned up to her lies without a fight. That wouldn't happen all the time, he knew, so it was better that he appreciated it now.

Just then he realized how quite it had gotten. Alfred was looking at him, waiting to see whether or not he would punish the girl for fraud.

Arthur wouldn't ever admit it, but he suddenly felt better knowing that his partner still saw him as the leader of the project. Overreacting just because his partner did a good job was no way to run a project, he knew that now -though he would be lying if he said he was completely over it-.

Really, there was no sense in punishing a girl who owned up to her mistakes. Not to mention that Alfred's puppy-dog eyes were just _begging_ for him to let her go, and Arthur was in no mood to deal with the child-like fit that would result from him saying no. "Since you admitted to lying and revealed your true identity, you are free to go."

Wide identical smiles could be seen on both Alfred and Seychelles' faces, and Arthur was taken by surprise when the girl jumped from her seat to grab his hand.

"Thank you so much! I'll appreciate this for the rest of my life! Thank you!" This girl was full of energy and happiness, so much different from the shy and nerve-racked girl he had seen before.

Did she really think he had saved her from some great punishment? Arthur wasn't that cruel to set up something so horrible for those who would inevitable impersonate the princess. He knew why they were doing it after all, just trying to find ways to survive in the country's tough financial time. The worst he would have done to her was to make her pay a fine. He wouldn't have ever arrested her unless things had gotten violent.

"Really, it's fine. Do you need help finding your way out?" He figured it was best to send Seychelles on her way now that her questioning was done.

"No, I remember how to get back! Thank you again!" She nearly skipped out of the large room towards the main entrance. Arthur doubted that she could have remembered the complex layout of the Archives, but the girl was already out before he could stop her.

. . .

"Alfred, want to follow her so she doesn't get lost?"

It wasn't a question and Alfred knew it. Arthur didn't want to get in trouble for letting a commoner loose through the archives, but he bloody as hell didn't feel like chasing after the girl himself.

Alfred either didn't understand the order or completely ignored it, choosing instead to lounge on the coach. "Nah. I'm sure the guards will help her around if she loses her way." Fine. If Alfred wasn't going to do it, then neither was he -call it childish, but he really wasn't in the mood to look all over the place for a girl that could easily charm any of the guards into helping her-.

Peaceful silence entered the room as Arthur decided to follow his partner's lead and relax. It wouldn't be long till they would be busy enough to spend full days interviewing con men and the like. It was probably best to rest now, while they could. It was also nice to be able not to hear Alfred whinging (which he knew he should also enjoy while he could).

Arthur was just about to fall into a sleep when he heard Alfred speak.

"Did I do good?" Was he looking for approval from_ him?_

He hadn't expected that.

"The-the questions you mean?" It was rare for Alfred to act like this, talking to him as if- well he didn't really know what exactly. It was just different.

He liked these moments.

"Yeah...I mean its not like we were gonna ask the girl some complicated shit like what her second-cousin's name was or whatever."

Alfred just _had_ to ruin it. That "complicated shit" was exactly what he had been planning to ask her -and from the way he had seen his partner sneak a look at his papers earlier, he was sure Alfred knew it too-, before he had come barging in late and decided to ruin his hard work!

Alfred, seeing the other man's mood turn for the worse, tried to take back the damage. "Hey, Arthur! Don't get all upset about it. I just thought it didn't make sense too ask stuff like _that_ the first time around!"

"And why the hell not?! I took me ages to make those things! Can you blame me for not wanting my work to go to waste?!" He shouldn't be yelling like this, but this was his first time being in charge of something. So he was a little sensitive about it? Sue him.

"Arthur. Arthur, just calm down. I-I just meant that it wouldn't be a good idea. Now don't get angry again. Can we please talk without you yelling at me for once? Just let me explain." Alfred was right -imagine that-, he managed to calm himself down enough to let his partner finish.

"Think about it. If we start asking really hard questions to those guys now, then information about what questions we asked them will spread. If that happens, it will be easier for someone to answer them and potentially trick us. You obviously haven't come up with enough questions to ask something different each time someone shows up. We'll make it easier on ourselves by asking simpler questions now, and using the ones you came up with either when information about those questions goes around, or we until we meet someone who knows the answers to all the simple questions. We're not wasting your work....we just saving it. Okay?"

He could see Alfred's point now. In fact, he was almost grateful for the fact that he had showed up now, imagining all the work he would have had to of done if we went with his original plan. If that had happened, then by the time he had used them a couple times, someone would have told someone else, and they would have been able to research it. Hell! He would have had to spend even _more_ time coming up with new questions! Or worse! Someone would have answered all of his questions and gone of with the money! He could not let that happen.

For you see, the real purpose of the project was not to find the princess and give her her money. Their _real _job was to keep anyone else from getting it, so that the government could use it once the one month limit was up. The government would have already used up the money (like most of the riches rescued from the Fall), if it weren't the rising popularity of the story of the "Runaway Princess". By the time they had found out about the money, the public was already so in love with the tragic image that to "steal from the princess" might cause a riot.

By hosting a time-limited "search" for the princess, the government could peacefully get a hold of the money without much complaint.

Most people in the higher ups of society knew the princess to be dead (or at least in hiding, and very unlikely to ever come out), and if this was the only way to get a hold of the money without disrupting the common people's fantasy, then so be it.

That was why Arthur's (and now Alfred's) job was so important. The government could use the money for so many things, but it was useless it if some one was able to run off with it. If that happened, they would almost definitely lose their jobs.

"Thanks." Without a doubt, Alfred had saved him from a-lot of work (and possible his job. For now). "I'm sorry I yelled."

"Nah! Don't worry about it!" They both relaxed, glad that a potentially big fight had been avoided.

_I guess I could get used to having Alfred as a partner._

"Isn't this like old times? You know, cept' your eyebrows got bigger."

_Or not._

* * *

**Author's Note: **YAY! ITS FINISHED! The chapter that is.

Yes, Arthur and Alfred used to know each other when they were younger. This is part of the reason why they get on each others nerves. I'll explain more in later chapters, but that's all we'll hear from these two for a while.

Next chapter will go back to Gilbert, Ludwig and everyone! YAY! The main plot will start up!

Hope everyone enjoyed this. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I feel as if some of my explanations in this chapter might not be understandable? I hope that's not the case.

Reviewing makes me happy :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Authors Note:** Hi everyone! Sorry this is a bit late, I had to fix some problems with my computer (which is now getting a new video chip thingy), had rehearsals, homework, and almost didn't have time to write this. But when your outta time, you MAKE time! Hahaha...lame joke

Some notes and such before we start. When there are ***** or something, that just means we are moving to a different place and fast forwarding a bit in time. (a.k.a nothing interesting happened from here to there). When there are little dots such as

.....

that just means that a short amount of time has passed (like 5 minutes or so, depending on your preference)

This is the longest chapter yet! (If barely). And is the start of some exciting times! yay! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Feliciano woke up in a strange state. Lying on a small and bumpy bed, he first thought that he was back at home with Elizaveta and Roderich. But that couldn't be right, he had left home, right? Not to mention that the room he was currently in was too different from his own bedroom. It was too bare and bleak, lacking all the various paintings and bright colors that Feliciano had decorated his own with.

Then he remembered. He was staying at the house of that nice man he had met, Ludwig. Feliciano immediately felt better knowing where he was, and decided to go down stairs to thank the man who let him had let him stay here.

After remembering to put on his clothes from yesterday (he didn't like to wear much to bed) he walked down the hallway and towards the living room.

Upon reaching the room, Feliciano could see the remains of make-shift beds on the couch and a space on the floor by it. They were empty at the moment, and a pleasant scent of food coming from his left told him that their previous occupants were in the kitchen.

_Food!_ Feliciano hurried toward the smell, hoping that he might also see Ludwig and perhaps get a bite to eat.

However, upon entering the kitchen the only people he saw were Ludwig's brother and his friend. He was slightly disappointed, but immediately perked up when he saw the large amount of food they were making.

"Oi!..uh...Feliciano! Want some pancakes?" Gilbert waved him over to the kitchen table."Francis made em', so they're sure to be good."

"_Merci_, Gilbert. But I doubt that even _moi _can make much of that old package of pancake mix you found in the back of the closet." Francis said, as he finished making their breakfast.

" 'Tis probably expired for all we know. But still, I hope you will enjoy it, as there is officially no food left in this house." Taking a seat at the table, Francis handed both Feliciano and Gilbert a stack of pancakes straight off the pan.

Feliciano didn't think the mix had been expired. The pancakes were a nice golden-brown color, and gave off a rich scent that told him otherwise. Besides, he was too hungry to care!

He took a bite out of a rather large one, and was happy with what he tasted. They were warm and buttery, and Feliciano bet that they would taste even better if they had any syrup.

"Ve~ Thank you! This is very good!"

"Ah, my friend, I think that if you find these so good, you should find my other works a delicacy."

Feliciano was about to suggest that they should cook together some time, but then remembered that he probably wouldn't be able to stay long enough to do so. He sobered a bit, but immediately cheered himself up. He had to leave, he was on a quest! A quest of utmost importance! There was no time to be sad.

Besides, from what they had told him last night, Francis and Gilbert would be traveling too. Maybe they could even travel together....

Feliciano didn't like to be alone, and traveling with others sounded like fun! They said that they were headed toward Central City, and that was as good a place as any to start his quest. There was even a chance that Ludwig would be coming too! He would really like that.

In fact, he couldn't imagine anything more exciting than traveling with these people he had just met, eating pasta, talking, and just being together. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more Feliciano liked the idea.

But he wasn't sure that the others would allow him to come. Ludwig was really really nice, but Feliciano wasn't even sure if he would go on the trip. Besides, it seemed like Gilbert was the one who was actually in charge, and Feliciano hadn't been around Gilbert long enough to know if he was the type of person to let him tag along.

Thinking about it so long wouldn't get him anywhere, and Feliciano was the type to say whatever was on his mind. So he figured it would be best to ask now if he could join them on their trip. He was just about to ask when Gilbert opened his (food filled) mouth to speak towards the kitchen entrance.

"Oh Luuwiig. Yor up. Yor nebar up thes wate" Gilbert's words were a bit mangled as he talked through his stuffed mouth (he had been basically chugging down the pancakes ever since they had been placed on the kitchen table), but Feliciano could pick up Ludwig's name.

"Good Morning!!"Feliciano gave a loud shout, turning around towards the kitchen entrance to see Ludwig walking in, looking a little worse for wear.

Ludwig looked over to him, still a little sleepy as he grabbed the remaining chair by Feliciano at the table. "Oh...uh... good morning."

Gilbert had by then swallowed all the food in his mouth, so he could now talk clearly. "Seriously West, this is like the latest you've ever gotten up. You look like shit. Did you get drunk or something while we weren't looking?"

A tired sighed escaped from Ludwig, looking at his brother while Francis gave him a plate of spare pancakes. "I've had trouble sleeping. When I did sleep I ended up having nightmares. No doubt because of you."

"Whatever. Have you decided yet?" Even though his own brother seemed unconcerned about Ludwig's condition, Feliciano felt a pang of worry for the man and wondered if there was anything he could do to help. Yet he fended off asking more about his condition, as he was too was curious to learn if Ludwig would end up going on the trip. It would definitely be 10 times more fun to travel with Ludwig then with just Francis and Gilbert (even if he didn't really know if he could accompany them).

"I have to go to the Post Office today." Was all Ludwig said. Feliciano was a bit confused about what this meant and, apparently, so was Gilbert.

"What the hell does that even mean?!"

Ludwig began to eat his pancakes, dropping eye contact with his brother. "Well I have to send a quitting notice to the factory if I'm to go running around the country with you."

Realization edged on Gilbert's face, resulting in a wide victory grin. "YAHOO! I knew it! You won't regret it West!" Gilbert began laughing, punching his brother on the shoulder in good humor. Ludwig was not amused.

Feliciano thought that now would be a good time to ask. "You guys are leaving for Central City late this afternoon, right?" Francis turned to him and nodded.

"_Oui_, it seems that way. Why?"

"Oh, Ve... I was wondering if I could come with you guys? Just to Central City I mean! Its just that I was gonna head there this morning anyways and I thought that-" He was starting to ramble a bit, a little nervous that they might think him weird for asking. "I- I would pay for my own ticket! I have money that is. Europa was where I was heading anyways! And-and." His hands were all over the place, trying to put forth what he was trying to say. He would have continued on like that if Gilbert hadn't interrupted him.

"Calm down! Jeez, its not a big deal. Sure you can come with us. There's enough room in the train compartment cart. You know, it might actually be a good idea for you to come... that way its less likely any one will try to sit next to us." The last part of Gilbert's declaration was too quite for Feliciano to pick up. He was too happy to care.

"YAY! You'll sit by me on the train, won't you Ludwig? Oh! This will be so much fun!" He gave Ludwig an impromptu hug in excitement, not really caring if it was in an awkward position seeing as they were sitting.

"Uh...okay." Ludwig was obviously a bit unsettled by the physical contact, and made it apparent that he wanted it to stop. Feliciano did so, not very bothered, too happy that he was going to go on a trip with everyone. Even if it was only until they reached Central City.

Gilbert, who had been quietly talking with Francis when Feliciano had gotten affectionate, again spoke up.

"Wait. You called Central City "Europa", right? Man! I haven't heard it being called that in ages! Where the hell are you from anyway?" Gilbert didn't give him a chance to speak before moving on to a different subject.

"Whatever. So! Our train leaves at 4:00 today. That should give you enough time to go to the Post Office, West. And um- Feliciano. Why don't you go with him? Francis and I gotta hold au- I mean, met a friend of ours, who will be coming with us. We can all meet back here and head towards the Station 'round 3:00 or something. That sound good to you guys?"

Feliciano gave an excited "Yup!" , while Ludwig simply nodded.

**********

The two of them were walking together along the busy street. Francis and Gilbert had left to meet their friend, and he and Ludwig were currently on their towards the Post Office.

Feliciano liked walking with Ludwig. He was quite, letting him do most of the talking, and allowed him to simply ramble off -something he had not done for a while, since Elizaveta was also a talker, and Roderich didn't think it polite for him to take over the conversation-.

He was just about to go on about how pasta should be served every meal of the day when he heard Ludwig speak up.

"I was just wondering exactly why you were heading towards Central City. If it's not too personal, that is." Ludwig's face didn't change much (in fact, Feliciano had begun to notice that his face always had the same serious look on it) but there was a slightest enough change for him to tell that Ludwig was slightly embarrassed by asking.

Feliciano didn't see how the question was personal, and it was easy for him to answer.

"I'm going to see my brother!" He said cheerfully.

"He lives in Central City?" Ludwig inquired.

"Ve... I don't know."

Ludwig was obviously confused.

"What do you mean? Don't you know where your own brother lives?"

"Not really. That's why I'm looking for him!" He explained further when he saw the lingering confusion of Ludwig's face. "Me and my brother got separated a long time ago. I got picked up and put in an orphanage, and I haven't seen my brother since. So I thought that I would look for him now! I thought Europa- Central City would be a good place to start! Especially if I can go with you guys!"

"Oh... I'm sorry for bringing that up... it must be a painful memory for you." Ludwig did look regretful for asking, but Feliciano didn't feel any pain. He did miss his brother, that was true, but it had happen so long ago that he hardly remembered him.

"Its alright~ It's because of what happened that I met Elizaveta and Roderich!" He was only six or so when he was found on the streets. The children police -people who were temporarily put in charge of collecting all of the orphans left during and after the Fall- had put him in an orphanage with other children like him.

It was there that he had met his family. Although Elizaveta and Roderich were much older then him, all three of them quickly bonded. None of them were adopted during their many years there -there were, after all, hundreds upon hundreds of orphans left after the violence of the Fall. It was the reason why there were "children police" in the first place. Even with families from within and outside the country adopting, there were still many children left without parents-. So as soon both Elizaveta and Roderich turned of age, they signed the papers to adopt Feliciano.

Feliciano began to tell Ludwig about his life with his surrogate family. How they had all worked together to buy a house in a small town not too far from where they were, and the days they spent together. He told him about how Elizaveta could be so gentle one moment, yet become fierce and passionate in the next. How Roderich could play the piano with so much emotion, but was very strict and had a type stiffness when he tried to display his emotions outside of his music. He told Ludwig how much he loved the two of them.

When he ran out of praises for his family and friends, he began to tell him why he had left.

"Well, I'm twenty-one now, and even though I loved living with everyone, I thought it was best I tried to go out on my own. There was something I always wanted to do, something I couldn't do at home. That was to look for my brother! I want to be able to complete my family, and I can't do that without him! I want to be able to eat pasta, cook, and paint and all sorts of things together! So I'm on a quest to look for him!"

Ludwig spoke up then, while also helping to move Feliciano along (he had stopped in the middle of crossing the street to make that last declaration). "Do you remember your brother's name?...I could probably look up his records at the Archives, without much trouble."

He shook his head, though he was glad for the thought. "I just remember what he looks like. He was basically a double of me! So I figured I could probably just travel around and look for someone with my face. I like being able to just travel around! Plus, I would meet tons of interesting people, I mean, I've only just started and I've already met you!" He beamed up at Ludwig, but could not get a good look at his face seeing as it was turned away from him -What? Was he being annoying! He didn't mean to be!-.

It was quite for a moment, as Feliciano grew more and more nervous that he had done something wrong. His nerves were calmed however, when he heard Ludwig speak.

"We're here."

Indeed, they were now standing outside the small building that was the Post Office. As soon as they walked inside they were pushed into the busy crowd of people. For being such a small building, the Post Office was always a place of activity. Especially today, as many people found themselves off from work, and it was common for them to use such free time to send letters and checks back to their families and friends in different cities.

They began to wait in the long line to send Ludwig's notice.

...

...

Feliciano was bored. They weren't doing anything. Ludwig seemed to be able to wait patiently, but Feliciano wanted to do something! There wasn't much to do though, so he began to amuse himself by looking at the people around him -Something he was rather good at, often capturing random people's feelings and thoughts in the paintings he did for fun back at home-.

Everyone else seemed to either be as bored as he was, or angry at the time it was taking for their turn. There was one person that caught his attention the most. He was a tall blond man, who seemed not to care about mail and the like. Instead of standing in line, he was walking frantically around the place eyes wide with panic.

_Maybe he's lost something?_ He could see the man was saying something over and over again, but he couldn't hear it over the noise. He tried to listen closer, but it wasn't until the man walked nearer to where Feliciano was that he heard what he was saying. It was a name! Did that mean he had lost someone?

He wanted to help the man, but he knew that it was probably best to stay by Ludwig (or else get lost like the man's missing person) so he settled to try and look for anyone who seemed lost. Feliciano couldn't see much from where he was, but he begun to notice that there was bump in the curtain that separated the internal part of the Post Office (where the mail was stored and such) from the front. Further inspection made him realize that the bump seemed to move when the man was father away, yet stayed still when he came near.

_Ohhh, it's a child!_ Feliciano thought _he must have been as bored as me!_

While he didn't blame the kid for trying to entertain himself, the man looking for him was definitely worried.

"Hey! Hey you!" He called out to the searching man, mostly ignoring the questioning look Ludwig was giving him.

At first the man didn't seem to hear him, but after many hand signals from Feliciano, he came over. "Um, Hello?"

"Hi! Are you looking for a little kid? Cause I think he might be over there." He pointed in the general direction of the bump in the curtain, while the man's face widened in surprise (he apparently hadn't thought of checking there yet).

"Huh? Man! How did you know? Thanks!" He then proceeded to run to the whereabouts of his lost kid. After pulling the young boy from the curtain (and after a bit of frustrated yelling) he dragged the newly-found kid back towards Feliciano.

"Thanks man! I had no idea where this guy went of to! His parents would kill me if I lost him... Say, why don't I buy you a beer in thanks?" While the man look thoroughly relieved, the young boy looked very annoyed that he had gotten caught (Woah! Look at those eyebrows! He's would have to try to draw those some time...).

"It's okay!" Feliciano declined the offer, just glad that he had been able to help someone while relieving his boredom. Ludwig by then had been listening, and seemed a little curious as to what exactly had happened.

"Nah, I gotta re-pay ya! I know! You guys are waiting in line to deliver something, right?"

Feliciano nodded as the man continued. "Well, most of my friends work here, so I could just give them whatever you want delivered later. That way you won't have to wait in this god-awful line. What's the address you want it delivered too?"

He couldn't believe their luck! They didn't have to wait in line anymore! Which was a very good thing, for besides waiting in line being incredibly boring, it was also very close to the time they were supposed to meet up with Gilbert and Francis.

While Ludwig began to exchange the factory's address with the other man, Feliciano gave a happy smile to the young boy besides him.

The boy responded by sticking out his tongue.

**********

They arrived back at the house only a few minutes before Francis and Gilbert. The two of them brought their old friend, a pretty girl who was much younger then Feliciano had expected.

The girl almost looked like she was related to Francis, with short and straight hair that was as bright a blond as his (though, he had to admit, blond hair was very common in these parts). Her green eyes and round face, however, seemed to show a distant relation if any at all.

She was very shy, and had a tough time introducing herself to him and Ludwig. "Uh...Hello. My name is Lili."

"Hi! I'm Feliciano! That's Ludwig. It's nice to meet you!" Lili looked a little flustered at first by his exuberant introduction, but quickly warmed up to him. Smiling and nodding while listening to him talk about his day and other random information.

"You guys ready to go?" Gilbert asked, after he finished packing up some of the supplies and clothes for the trip -he usually left such things lying around Ludwig's house for when he visited-.

Feliciano had very few belongings with him, nothing he couldn't carry in the coat that Elizaveta had given him before he had left home. Everyone else, however, had to carry their belongings in traveling bags.

Lili especially seemed to have a lot of baggage, with a large black bag that seemed awfully heavy. Figuring that he didn't have anything to carry himself (and the fact that he could never ignore a cute girl in need!) he offered his help to carry her bag.

"Thank you." She whispered to him, obviously glad to not have to carry the burden.

"I'm sorry to rush everyone, but I am sorry to say that we will miss our train if we do not leave this moment." Francis called out to them, ushering them all out of the house.

Everyone quickly moved along, save for Feliciano, who was having trouble keeping up. The bag was much heavier then he had originally thought, and he realized that he should have thought twice before offering to take such a heavy hassle (strength wasn't his strong-suit after all).

Luckily for Feliciano, Ludwig had noticed him falling behind and had walked back towards him. "Sorry... this is a little heavier then I thought it would be." Feliciano said, trying to laugh it off while feeling bad for making them move slower.

Without so much as a word, Ludwig picked up the heavy bag and (along with his own) began walking again.

"Ve! Thank you Ludwig~" Feliciano began to walk much faster, now that he was unburdened by the weight.

"Just...don't take on too much at once from now on." Ludwig said, as both of them caught up to everyone else.

Thankfully they were able to make it to the Train Station on time without any other problems. They all bought tickets to the same train (Feliciano using money that Roderich had given him, while Gilbert paid for everyone else) and Feliciano was excited to finally enter the train.

_It's so big!_ He thought, happy that he was finally starting his journey. There were many different compartment cars that connected to the train's main hallway, and Feliciano looked on in wonder as Ludwig looked for the one they would all be riding in. Theirs was one of the last on the train, with room enough for six people to sit comfortably in.

Feliciano decided to let Lili claim a seat by the window (ladies first!), sitting down besides her while also saving the seat next to him.

Ludwig had promised him after all, and he would make sure that that promise was kept.

Gilbert sat down on the opposite window seat, with Francis seated next to him. As soon as Ludwig had put away the last of their bags, Feliciano waved him over to the seat besides him. Ludwig obliged, and Feliciano began to talk rapidly to both him and Lili.

"-Hey where did you get that ribbon? It's a really pretty color. Hey Ludwig! Isn't being on a train so much fun? This is my first time-" He continued to babble on as everyone waited patiently for the train to move.

It had been a while, and Feliciano had begun to doze on and off (leaning on Ludwig during his more lucid times, which seemed to make the man slightly uncomfortable though he didn't say anything), yet the train still had not budged.

"Jeez! What's the hold-up!" Gilbert said impatiently, wanting to be off already.

"It's probably just a technical problem," Francis re-assured them. "I'm sure it will be up and running soon enough."

It was then that they all heard the gun-shots.

* * *

**Authors Note: **First of all, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry, please excuse me, it's my first time leaving on such a very dramatic cliff hanger.

Okay! All I can say for the next chapter is that it will mostly be in Francis' view, and it will be a big game-changer. This is where it starts getting fun!

Just so you know, Lili is Liechtenstein. It's supposedly a very popular fan name, and is also short for her country name and the Lily, which is occasionally the country's flower. Or something like that. Also, Europa is the name of Central City that was used before "the Fall". It is taken from the character from a Greek story from which Europe was named. If any one is curious, the city they are in now is named Amerigo, after the explorer of which the America's were named.

Now before I go and collapse, anyone want to give a guess as to which Hetalian characters showed up un-named in this? There were two :D

See you guys soon!


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: **GAH! I'm sorry this is so late. Especially since I left off on such a horrible cliff hanger. *bad Shelly, bad*

The two characters from last chapter were Denmark and Sealand! It still makes me sad that I wasn't able to fit Finland and Sweden in there... but they might show up later.

So here it is! A lot of stuff happens in this one. Before we start I have to explain something. The place this takes in is an AU (of course) and there's something I have to say about the names.

Country names are royalty. This takes place sorta in the waay distance future, where all the names of most old cities and countries are known. The kingdom and royalty had a "thing" where they were named after great places from the past. So the royal princess, prince, and all other royalty will use their country names. Its sorta like a title. The difference between their real (country/royal) names and the names that many are referred to in here will become VERY important later.

So after that info dump, lets go! Hope you enjoy the chapter!

* * *

There were two crisp shots. They echoed through the air, leaving behind a silence that lasted for a few seconds. And then the screaming began. Loud high-pitched (and even some deep) voices rang throughout the train as most of the passengers began to panic.

Francis wasn't panicking. No, he definitely was _not_ panicking. He would never panic.

The tightening in his chest and the sudden rush of adrenaline was merely him being alarmed. Nothing more, he assured himself.

However, as he was used to being in such danger-inducing situations -one doesn't be friends with Gilbert without getting into some kind of trouble-, he put aside any feelings he had so that he could become more aware of his surroundings.

Some people called him a coward. Francis liked to tell them that he simply knew when to pick and choose his battles. It was because of his insight into both his environment as well as his quick mouth (and when someone didn't particularly take to him spreading his beautiful_ l'amour_, quick legs) that often served him well in tough situations.

It was his insight that he used now.

Only a few seconds had passed since the shootings, and in that short time Francis was able to conclude that the shooting had taken place outside of the train.

First of all, the sound of the shootings themselves were not as loud as they would have been if they took place from within the train. Second, There was no sound of either of the bullets yet hitting metal, which they certainly would have in the small space of the metal train.

Having drawn this conclusion, Francis knew that there wasn't any immediate danger as of yet.

Mere seconds of having realized these and losing some of his original adrenaline, he heard a clear and calm voice from overhead.

"Hello, This is your train captain speaking. I ask everyone to stay calm. I repeat, stay calm. There was a mild disturbance. I assure you it has been taken care of."

The previous panic and chaos died down, as people began to listen to the captain. A few minutes passed, and it seemed as if there was an almost universal breath of relief as people on the train slowly started to calm. The noise was most likely an accident of some kind, instead of something like a train hi-jacking (God Forbid such a thing should happen).

Francis was impressed by how fast the crowd had died down, and relieved that he (no, he meant _everyone_, of course.) was safe.

Just as the last of the panic had calmed down, a loud and hoarse voice yelled out.

"Lili! Are you in here?!"

Francis (being the closest one to the door) looked out of their compartment car. Someone had pulled open the door at the beginning of the train car.

"Brother?" Lili had moved besides Francis to see what had happened.

Indeed, the man who had burst in was a blond with a strong resemblance to the young woman besides him.

Francis could vaguely remember Lili mentioning a sibling, but that didn't explain why he would be here.

Lili had stepped out onto the train hallway now, but her brother had not yet noticed her, seeing as he was busy fighting off the men who followed him onto the train.

"SIR, We ask you again, release your weapon and evacuate the train." A man called to Lili's brother. He was one of the many officers that were currently blocking the entrance of the train.

"Back off!" Lili's brother yelled, waving around a large gun. So he was the source of the gunshots. Francis' face blanched, it was never good to be around an angry man with a gun. Even if Lili was a sweetheart, that didn't mean her brother couldn't be completely insane.

Francis could see that the officers were thinking the same thing, also questioning the man's sanity as they stared down the large gun barrel.

You would think that so many men would be able to take on one, right? But he could see (even from this distance) from the bloody lips and already-formed bruises on many on the officers' faces that any previous attempt of detaining the man had failed. Francis knew that the fact that the type of officers that guarded the Train Stations did not regularly carry guns and hardly ever saw any action (most of the trouble that happened on trains happened while they were on the track, and not at the actual stations, even rarely then did it happen) certainly didn't help matters.

"_Ma mie..._" Francis hurriedly whispered, grabbing her arm and trying to lead the young woman back into their compartment car. "I think we should go back inside now..."

But she stayed rooted to the spot. "Vash..." She called out, softly at first, but then raising her voice to a near-shout. "Brother! What are you doing here?"

Vash turned his head away from the officers (while still keeping his gun on them) towards her voice. "Lili!" He yelled when he saw her.

Both of the siblings seemed to run towards each other at the same time, meeting halfway at the hallway in an embrace. Vash's gun was still in his hand, and Francis had to wonder how Lili could look so at ease with such a large weapon next to her.

"Why did you leave? It took me forever to figure out what you meant in that letter you left." Vash's face had an unhappy type of disappointment on it, yet it couldn't hide the fondness that he obviously felt for the girl.

Lili looked down, not meeting her brother's eyes. "I just wanted to help you, brother. I know we're low on money, and I thought if I took this job I get some for us..."

Vash looked surprised at this. "What?! That's why you wanted to leave?! We have plenty of money! Besides... I would rather you stay with me then go off somewhere." Francis could barely hear these last words, whispered as they were. The man turned his head away in embarrassment of having admitted such a thing. Lili, who at first was touched, soon became worried.

"But brother! You always buy the cheapest cheese and clothes! Don't we need the money?" Vash became incredibly flushed at this. "No! I told you already, I just like the taste of that cheese better! And the clothes...uh, the fabric feels much softer!"

Lili didn't look convinced. Tears came to her eyes as it became more obvious to Francis that she truly thought that coming with them was the only way to help her brother.

"But... if we did have a money problem..." Vash began, looking again at his sister. "You could always get a job with me. We can work together to earn money. Just... just don't leave me."

Lili tearfully agreed as the two sibling embraced again. "I promise I'll never try to leave you again brother!"

Francis was so moved by the beautiful expression of_ l'amour_ that he failed to notice one of the approaching officers.

"Sir." The man broke apart the brother and sister, voice weary as he said to them both. "Could you please evacuate the train." The officer obviously wanted this whole thing over with, and luckily for him, Vash was very cooperative now that he had found who he was looking for.

"Lets go Lili." He held out a hand to his sister, who gladly took it. They left together, following the officer out of the train and towards the others waiting for them out side.

Lili looked towards Francis one last time before exiting. "Thank you! I'm sorry it didn't work out, but I hope everything goes well for you!"

Francis merely nodded, giving a small wave as he saw the last of the girl.

Now, if Francis had been thinking clearly, he would have begged or found some way to make Lili stay with them. She was an indispensable part of their plan after all. The problem was that he was definitely not thinking clearly.

As what tended to happen whenever he saw something "beautiful", he was in a sort of daze. Tears prickled at his eyes, so touched was he by the devotion that the siblings had shown towards each other. Most men wouldn't get so worked up over something like that, but as many people knew, Francis wasn't like most men.

_AH! What a scene that just happened before my eyes! Two beautiful people in the heart of l'amour! Magnifique!_

Before he could get too carried away, he was brought back to reality by Gilbert's voice.

"What the hell?! Where'd the girl go?" Gilbert had apparently come out -having chosen to stay inside to avoid getting shot- to see what had happened.

_That's right! Lili...  
_

_Shit._

"She's...she's gone." Francis had begun to realize the extent of what had just happened. "She left with her brother.."

"WHAT?! She can't be gone! We have to go after her!"

But it was too late, as the train had begun to move, with the captain's clear voice once again overhead. "We're sorry for the wait. We will now begin our route towards Central City. We hope you will enjoy our ride together."

They were stuck. Lili was outside, and here they were going towards their destination without a girl to act as the princess!

* * *

The two of them stayed outside like that, unmoving as despair slowly started to take hold. What could they do now? They didn't have nearly enough money to rent another theater for an audition. It wasn't like the could just ask a random girl on the train either. They would either be kicked out of the train for bothering passengers, or worse, have their whole operation shut down. There was nothing they could do.

Tired of just standing out side and moping, the both of them went back inside their compartment car.

Inside where Ludwig and Feliciano, with the latter having fallen asleep on the former.

"What happened?" Ludwig asked, trying to adjust to a more comfortable position in his seat.

Both Francis and Gilbert said back in their previous seats as Gilbert, still frustrated at their current situation, began to explain.

Francis was only half listening to his friend, thinking instead of what they would do next.

They still had the large suitcase of dresses that they had bought for Lili earlier that day -the girl was going to be presented as a lost princess, and she didn't seem own any clothes that would match such a label-. He still remembered the long afternoon (it had happened today, but if felt like ages ago) they had spent looking through store after store, spending much of their money. The girl had been hard to buy for, seeing as her chest was a bit... lacking to say the least.

They couldn't afford to buy any more dresses if they actually managed to find a new girl. So that meant that any girl who they choose would either have to own their own dresses (slightly unlikely, considering that most people desperate enough to try such a stunt tended to be too poor to own such things) or fit Lili's body type.

That would be another obstacle in their way, seeing as it was very rare in these area of the country for a girl to have such a body type (which had been why Lili had been so hard to buy for in the first place).

Francis couldn't help but sigh. Their cause seemed almost hopeless now.

There was no way they could find another girl, a girl with the same measurements as Lili, by the month's deadline. Especially with no cash.

Gilbert seemed to be done talking to his brother, and Francis could see that Ludwig had also realized the truth of their situation. They had come here for nothing.

A gloomy air filled the room, as all three of them seemed to give up hope. The only one, it seemed to Francis, who was not in dark mood was the sleeping Feliciano. How jealous he was of him, being able to sleep through all this with such a peaceful look on his face. He was tired of thinking of their hopelessness, and as he tended to do in such situations, decided he would focus on something else, or more specifically, Feliciano.

He was a very cute man and (even in their current predicament) Francis couldn't help but feel a bit jealous towards Ludwig, who he was now resting against. Not that Ludwig wasn't handsome too, no the man definitely was, but Ludwig sort of....scared Francis. Yes, he said it. The man scared him. In his opinion Ludwig needed to loosen up a bit.

Not Feliciano. Even though he hadn't known the man for very long, it was obvious to Francis that he was a free spirit. He supposed that was part of what made him attractive, that and the almost girly features the man had certainly helped.

Wait.

What did he just think? Yes... Feliciano did look a bit like a girl in the face. Even the man's figure could be considered girly, what with his small shoulders and waist. He was definitely a small man...

In fact, the more Francis looked at him the more he was sure that with a wig and a dress that Feliciano would make a very convincing (if flat-chested) girl.

What was he thinking?! This was ridiculous. He was not seriously thinking of dressing a man up as a princess. That would never work!

....

But it wasn't like Arthur would check if it was a girl. No, Arthur was too much of a stuck-up "gentleman" to do that. Maybe...maybe they could pull it off...

Even if they did dress him up, there would be no way of hiding a man's voice. But then again, Feliciano's voice was very high for a man, and could probably pass for a low voiced girl's...

Not to mention that they had no wig! Looking at Feliciano's hair again, though, it could possibly pass for a short haircut...

And weren't Lili and Feliciano around the same size? Sure, Feliciano was a bit taller, but that shouldn't be much of a problem.

Yes, he was sure they could do it! Hope began to rise in his chest, they could still get the money! All he needed to do was convince everyone else of the genius of this plan!

"Francis...Are you alright?" Ludwig seemed to have noticed Francis' staring, and seemed a bit worried that the man who was previously so devastated became so happy.

"Yes, never been better!" Gilbert and Ludwig both gave him a strange look at that. "Listen to me my friends, for I think I have found our princess!"

"What, you see some girl you wanted to hit on in the bathroom or something?" Gilbert was definitely not in the mood for this. No matter, he would make his friend see his way.

"No, our princess is right in this room!" More stares. "I believe that our little Feliciano would make a very nice princess, don't you?"

"PWHAHAHA! Oh man! That's a good one!" Gilbert laughed (it was almost amazing how Feliciano could stay asleep through such an obnoxious laugh), suddenly quieting down when he saw the seriousness in Francis face. "Wait...you're serious?!"

"I don't really see how that could work." Ludwig said.

"Look at him! Does he not radiate femininity? If we put him in one of Lili's dresses, I am sure we will have a diva on our hands!" Well, that was exaggerating a bit, but whatever convinced them. He could already see Gilbert starting to see it his way, examining Feliciano's face like he himself had done not so long ago.

"He seriously does look like a chick!"

"Could you please stop that." Ludwig did not like his brother "examining" Feliciano. "I really don't think we should bring Feliciano into this. He doesn't even know what we are doing here."

_Ah, that's right, Feliciano still doesn't know the real reason we are headed towards Central City. If he is going to be part of the scheme, we will have to tell him, and split the money with him accordingly. _

_If he agrees that is._

_Well,_ Francis thought,_ the only way to find out is to ask Feliciano himself._

"Gilbert?" His old friend immediately got his meaning, roughly shaking Feliciano awake, while ignoring Ludwig's protests.

"Ve...? What happened?" Feliciano looked around, looking like he was still half-asleep. "Where's Lili?"

"She went with her brother or something." Gilbert went straight to the point. "Say Feliciano, wanna help us with something?"

Feliciano first look sad hearing about Lili's departure, but quickly cheered up upon hearing that they wanted his help. "Sure! I'd do anything to help you guys!"

_Success!_

"Feliciano, don't just agree to anything without knowing what it is." Ludwig scolded him slightly, giving his brother a dirty look. "Okay~"

"West?! What the hell?! Your supposed to be on our side!" Gilbert did not appreciate his little brother interfering.

"You know I hate it when you call me that. And you can't just make him join you without telling him anything." Ludwig said, while Feliciano just watched the brothers' exchange curiously.

"Ugh, Fine! We'll tell him!" Gilbert gave up, turning once more towards Feliciano. "Okay so we're heading to Central City to trick the government into thinking we've found the lost princess and get all the money that the old king left her and the government has been keeping. So what we want you to do is dress up as a girl and convince the government that your really the princess. Got it?" Gilbert said this in fast procession, but nonetheless, Feliciano nodded to show he understood.

"So... You want me to dress like a girl?" Feliciano said, trying to clarify what he heard.

"You got it! Look, we'll even give you part of the money if you help us!" Gilbert replied, really trying to sell the deal.

"But- but what about the real princess? Doesn't that money belong to her?" _If that is his main concern,_ Francis thought,_ then this should be easier then he thought_.

...

Gilbert was quiet for a second before speaking again.

"She's dead. Me and Ludwig saw it ourselves." Francis' eyes went wide with surprise at Gilbert's statement. He was not against lying to the child, but the strange look on his friend's face (not to mention his use of his brother's name) made him feel as if this wasn't a lie. He would have to ask what his partner had meant at a later time.

"Ve? Really? Is it true Ludwig?" Feliciano was also surprised at this, turning to his new friend for confirmation.

"...Yes." Ludwig said, after much silence. Did those two really know something about the princess that Francis didn't? He would definitely question his partners in crime the next chance he got.

"Awww. That's so sad." Feliciano said, instantly cheering up, "Well, in that case! Of course I'll help you!"

_Wow. That was simple._

"Well... I suppose in that case, do you want to start by trying on one of our dresses?" Francis said, thinking it was better for them to get started right away, for if he was to pass as a girl he would have to be able to get used to their clothes.

"Okay!" Really, the boy almost seemed _enthusiastic_ about this. What a strange person.

Francis took out the heavy suitcase, emptying it of a rather simple frock that he thought would serve their purpose for the time being. It didn't look to complicated to put on (unlike some of the dresses in there, that would surely need another person's help to put on) and he thought that Feliciano wouldn't have much trouble putting it on himself -Francis had much more experience with female dresses then most men, knowing how most of them worked, having so often learned how to _take_ them off, if you catch his meaning-.

"Here, my friend." Francis handed the dress to Feliciano. "Go in the bathroom and change into this. Once you come out, my dear boy, you must begin your journey to womanhood!"

He could hear Ludwig and Gilbert both groan, but Feliciano merely nodded and exited the compartment car.

Some silence passed before anyone spoke.

"I can't believe he actually went for it." Gilbert finally spoke up, expressing the thoughts that all three of them shared.

There wasn't much to add to that, andFrancis thought that this was as good a time as any to question what the other two had meant about seeing the princess' death.

However, before he could question them, their compartment car door was loudly pulled open.

Feliciano couldn't be back already, could he?

But no, the man that ran into their car quickly shut the door, sitting down besides him was not Feliciano.

"Sorry, I just need a place to hide for a little while." Usually he would be upset at a total stranger barging in, but he actually knew this man.

Both him and Gilbert seemed to recognize him at the same time, yelling out a surprised "Spain?!"

The dark and curly-haired man was in fact their old partner in crime. "Huh? It's you guys! Hi!"

"Spain, what the hell are you doing here?!" Gilbert excitingly yelled. Francis couldn't blame him, the last time they had seen him was during their last con. They had gotten caught (and Francis was fired) and they had lost track of Spain. Francis had almost feared something bad had happened to his old friend, but he should have remember that Spain had gotten out of rougher situations.

"Oh, my friend, not so loud. I don't go by that name anymore. Call me Antonio. I've gone straight." Sp- Antonio said proudly. Knowing his friend, Francis doubted that.

"Then how come you ran into here? Took a fancy to someone's watch and make a run for it?" Francis knew he hit the mark when his friends face looked guilty.

But his face lifted up after a second. "Well, that was the last time. I made a promise, as soon as I get to the city I'm going clean!" Antonio had a relaxed smiled on his face, and Francis had to wonder what change took place the last time he had seen his friend.

"Uh...Who is this?" Oh, he had forgotten about Ludwig. Of course he didn't know Spain.

"He's an old friend of ours! Old Sp- Antonio here is one of the best thieves you've ever seen! Antonio, this is my lame brother Ludwig." Gilbert said, as happy as Francis to see Spain again.

"Why does he have a noble's name?" Ludwig asked. Francis didn't think that was very important, but Ludwig seemed to have different priorities then him.

"Oh, that was his alias." Francis said offhandedly, turning again to Antonio. "So Antonio is your real name, huh? I've always wondered."

"Yup! I'm using it now that I not a criminal anymore." Francis wondered how long this would last.

"So why the sudden change of heart?" He asked, wanting to catch up to his old friend.

"Ahhhhh..." Antonio seemingly stared off into space after that. He seemed to be thinking of something happy, going red in the face with a goofy smile. Gilbert had to punch him to get him talking again.

"Off! Oh, yea. I made a promise to someone." Antonio said, his faced happy and flushed.

So it looked like his friend has met someone, eh? Francis wondered who had managed to make his friend give up his profession. He was just about to ask so, when the compartment car door was open once again.

This time it was Feliciano, though he didn't immediately recognize him. He really looked like a girl. That was the whole point of course, but Francis didn't really think it would look as good as it did now.

He could see everyone else was surprised too, even Antonio -_why would Antonio be surprised?_ Francis thought briefly- as he (or she it looked like now) stepped in.

"Eh?... Who's this?" Antonio asked, still looking a bit weird to Francis.

"Hi! I'm Fel-" Feliciano was about to introduce himself, but was quickly interrupted by Francis.

"This is Felicia. She's my... niece. She's traveling with us on business."

Antonio nodded understandingly, though he still looked a bit confused.

"I'm Antonio, nice to meet you." He said, raising his hand to shake with "Felicia".

"Nice to meet you too!" Feliciano said, enthusiastically shaking with Antonio, then sitting back down next to Ludwig.

"So your heading towards to Central City? Got a place to stay?" Antonio asked.

"We were planning on staying at a hotel or something." Gilbert replied.

"Oh no no! That won't do! You must come stay at my house! You can even meet my friend!" Antonio offered happily.

Well that saved them some money. Francis was thankful that they had managed to run into their old friend. Not only could they catch up on old times, but they now had a good place to stay.

It was too bad that they couldn't include Spain (it would be hard to get out of the habit of calling him that) in there scheme. Maybe if they had found him earlier it could have been just like old times, but the money was already split four ways. Not to mention that his friend might not be as happy to be involved with something illegal now that he decided to clean. But at least they could use him as a type of trail.

If they could go through the whole trip without making Spain realize that "Felicia" was a he, then they might have a chance of pulling this off. Though, Francis had to admit, his friend was much more of a ditz then any government agents he had worked with.

But then that brought up another frightening point, if they couldn't fool him, how could they ever hope to fool the government?

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Ahh its done now!

_Ma mie _: means my female friend, or something like that. All of the other french words are pretty simple. For a reason of course. (Thank you to Nerica for the correction!)

Francis will probably never say a full French sentence, not only because I don't know French and don't want to screw up, but also because its part of his back story. There's a reason why Francis is the only one to ever speak in a another language, and in a simple way at that! But we will get to that later

There is even a reason why Gilbert calls Ludwig West, and why Ludwig doesn't like it. In fact, that's even bigger then the French thing and ties into a major plot thread.

Just telling this to give you an idea of whats coming. Speaking of next chapter, any one wanna guess whats gonna happen? Hint, it was foreshadowed and I'm a horrible person XD

Hope you all enjoyed!


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Oh geez! This is really really late! I'm sorry guys! But I've recently started up this sport and haven't been able to get home till 7 on most days, so I haven't had a lot of time to write.

Ahh, but here it is. Chapter 6! Told in Spain's view! It is a very exciting (and long) one, so I hope that will make up for the lateness...

Enjoy!

* * *

Antonio was very young when he was left on his own. Probably around six or something, but Antonio was never sure of his age (he guessed that he was in his late twenty's at the moment).

For some reason or another, his parents had abandoned him. They were probably to poor to support him, or maybe they just died. Perhaps he should be sad about that, but Antonio didn't really think about it. He didn't remember his parents, and he thought he had done pretty well without them.

He supposed he had taken being left in a large city by himself pretty well. It didn't take him long to figure out how to survive. Antonio thought it was simple really, people had what he needed so he took it. It was almost like a game to him, trying to see how much he could take without getting in too much trouble with the shop merchants.

It was just food at first, with the occasional snatch of clothes, just the things he needed for basic survival. However, as his skills grew over the years he was able to set his sights on bigger targets. A watch here, a ring there, soon he was able to snatch wallets and wads of cash from unsuspecting citizens. He's street credit grew, and Antonio decided it was time to create a name for himself (quite literally, actually).

It was only a few years before the Fall when a large tragedy struck one of the noble families. A young noble child, named Spain, had contracted a horrible disease and passed away. The news was all over the city - seeing how it was a break from the usual new of revolts throughout the kingdom- and the name could often be heard among the local gossip. The event was so often spoken of that even Antonio caught hold of the news -he hardly ever paid attention to what was going on in the country-.

While Antonio didn't care much about the nobles or the young child, he quickly grew found of the child's name. He liked the sound it made, and it wasn't long before he decided that he would take the name as his own. There was probably a law against taking such a name, but Antonio didn't care. From then on he was known as Spain.

His new name became known throughout the city (though some were confused at first, not realizing that the dead noble child and the famous child thief were different people). Whenever someone lost an item, it became the fashion to blame it on Spain (though he wasn't always the cause of course). As his reputation grew, so did his wealth.

He was nowhere near rich, but it was a large improvement from being poor. Spain soon had enough money from selling his stolen goods to buy an apartment. He had gotten enough to support a simple life-style around his early teens. It wasn't long before he became glad that he had invested in an apartment, as The Fall happened only a few months after he did so.

Spain was lucky to have shelter when it started, as he was able to hide safe and sound while the riots tore apart the streets (and many a street urchins' hideout). It was all very confusing and scary for the young teenager, who had no idea what was going on. Maybe if he had paid more attention to things happening outside of his personal life he would have known why there were so many angry people in the streets. There was chaos every where when it happened. Even in his faraway apartment in the slums Spain could see the flames that engulfed the Palace, and for once, he was interested as to what had happened to the royal family.

It seemed like months before Spain could venture outside. When he did, he was shocked by what he saw. The streets were in an even worse condition then before. It looked so empty, completely devoid of even the homeless, with visible burnt marks on building corners (he wondered if it was from the many fires that he had seen the riots march with). Seeing his old home like this disturbed him, so used was he to the usual activity and noise that the place held. This place was only an empty husk of what it was before, and they longer he stayed the more the silence got to him.

Spain hurried along, hoping that the corner market had fared better. _How much farther?_ He thought, before a sudden noise startled him. The small sound echoed through the otherwise empty street, and to Spain, it sounded suspiciously like crying.

Curious now, Spain followed the sound to a small secluded corner on the street. There, hidden in the shadows, was a small figure. It was a young boy who looked to be five or so years younger then him. The noise had been the sound of the boy crying, and from the look of it, the boy had been doing so for a long time. He looked very thin, and Spain wondered when the boy had last eaten. Spain crouched down to get a better look, but the boy just scooted farther away from him.

"Hey, are you alright? Why are you crying?" The boy looked at him for the first time, his brown eyes glaring at him. "I'm not crying asshole!" He yelled in a high voice.

"But your eyes are all red and puffy-"

"I have something in my eye! Go away you stupid bastard!"

Well, Spain couldn't really read the atmosphere that well, but even he knew that he wasn't wanted. He got up to leave, but before doing so, dropped around 20 rubees near the boy. He probably needed it more then him.

Spain then went back on his way and soon he was at the corner market. Even this place could not escape the effects of The Fall, but luckily for Spain, there was still one food stand open.

He was lucky that it wasn't crowded (in fact he was basically the only one there besides the food stand owner) and Spain was able to get a good look at all of the available food. There wasn't a lot of meat, mostly just fruits and vegetables available, but meat was too expensive for him anyways (and he had decided that he wouldn't steal this man's food, besides the fact that he only stole more expensive items these days, the merchant looked like he had fallen on hard times recently).

Spain gathered up what he thought were some of the better looking fruits and vegetables, nodding to the food stand owner while he dug his money out of his pocket.

He collected his money in his hand and saw a meager 10 rubees. He saw now that he had given most of his money to the small boy from earlier. _Oh well_, he thought, _at least this will buy enough food to last me a couple days. _He could just sell a couple of his better steals if he needed more money for food later.

Realizing that he could not pay for all of it, he put back some of his collected food. Spain was about to pay for what remained when he felt a sudden rush of pain in his leg.

"Ow!" He yelled, turning to look for the cause of the pain. Turning around he saw, to his surprise, the little boy from before! The kid's eyes were still red (though now the red seemed to have spread to the rest of his face) but the tears seemed to have dried up a bit. The boy thrust his hand palm up toward Spain's face and collected in the small hand Spain saw the 20 rubees that he had given the boy before.

"Pay for me, Jackass." The boy said to (no, more like ordered) him. Managing to still look threatening with his small flushed face.

In that moment Spain realized three things.

One was that the boy had kicked him. Two was that the boy had obviously been following him.

And three overpowered both one and two till it occupied his whole mind, and that was the fact that the boy's red face was ….just…so …CUTE!

The boy seemed to get annoyed when Spain didn't answer and proceeded to kick him again.

"Ow! Uh... What would you like?" Spain asked, holding his sore knee.

"Hmph." The boy said, standing on his tippy-toes to get a better look at the food on the stand. After a few moments of contemplation the boy pointed to a collection of tomatoes.

"Those."

"Tomatoes? How many?" Spain asked as the boy gave him another dirty look.

"As many as that can get me." He said, nodding to the money that he had given Spain (that Spain had given him...this was getting confusing).

"You only want tomatoes?" Spain asked, just a bit perplexed. The boy's face went bright red again.

"What's wrong with that!? Just buy them for me you bastard!"

Spain had to keep himself from laughing. The boy's face looked just as red as the fruit (or vegetable, he always got that mixed up) that the boy was asking for! It was so cute!

"Okay, Okay, Calm down little guy." Spain gave in and bought almost all of the merchant's tomatoes, handing the large bag filled with the fruit/veggie to the boy. The young kid had some trouble carrying it (it was a lot of tomatoes after all) but refused any help from Spain.

He gave up trying to help the boy and started to head back home with his own bag of food. It didn't take him long to figure out that the boy was following him. The boy's exasperated grunts and the sound of the bag of tomatoes being dragged followed him as he made his way back to his apartment. They were nearly half way there when Spain turned around to face the boy.

"Here, let me carry it. You'll damage the tomatoes if you keep dragging it like that." He said, as he boy nodded (he was probably too tired or too worried about the tomatoes to disagree) and Spain easily picked up the bag.

He continued walking home, now carrying both the bags, and wondered when the boy would tell him to give it back.

"Where is your home?" Spain asked, even though he knew that the boy was most likely homeless.

He waited for a response, but upon not hearing one, he turned around to look at the boy. To his surprise he saw that the child had collapsed a few feet away. Worriedly he ran back towards to where the boy had fallen. Spain was quickly relived to see that boy was still breathing. He guessed that the he had worn himself out carrying that heavy bag.

The boy's face was without the constant scowl he wore, and Spain had to admit that the boy looked almost angelic.

Spain made a quick decision then, and picked up the boy. Carrying both the child and the bag he headed back to his apartment.

The boy wasn't as surprised as Spain thought he would be when he woke up. He merely asked for food, and Spain obliged him with one of the many tomatoes they had bought.

Lovino -the boy's name, he found out later- had stayed with him ever since.

* * *

It was Lovino that had made him go back to his old name.

They had been living together for about sixteen years -Lovino had even come with him when he moved to a larger house- , and Spain had recently been taking on bigger jobs in the black market.

He had even found a team of sorts, made up of a fellow con man and a government worker who helped them in their operations. Gilbert and Francis had become his partners and his only friends in the shady business. The three had been planning a large heist that was sure to guarantee them an easy life from then on. A large part of the plan relied on Spain being able to steal an important artifact guarded by the government.

The plan was for Spain to steal the artifact held in Amerigo city and deliver it to Gilbert, who would then take the artifact to a potential buyer in a different country - Gilbert had been provided with government papers allowing him to easily pass travel security by Francis, of course-.

They had hoped that the money from the very eager buyer would pay them off for life, but it was not to be.

The government had found out about Francis helping the two criminals, and he had been fired accordingly. Not only that, but the government had found the plans of their biggest heist yet, and had arrested Spain the night he tried to steal the artifact. He had nearly been killed by the guards -instead, he was beaten to near death- and was taken to one of the most infamous jails in the country.

Luckily the jailers had allowed him to try and contact his sweet Lovino. After sending a letter explaining where he was and what had happened, he waited for nearly a month for him to reply. When he did get a letter back he was thoroughly cussed out (as was to be expected) but Spain was surprised to find genuine concern for his health that was not hidden behind an insult in the letter. Not only that, but Lovi actually asked him to give up his career as a thief! Spain could still remember the exact lines...

_...and you should get a real job. One that doesn't involve you risking your life like this one does. _

_You can't die._

_..._

_Not that I'd miss you or anything. I just wouldn't have any one to get me food, and that job at the store doesn't pay me nearly enough!_

_So get back home you bastard. _

Coming from Lovi, that was basically a love confession! Thinking about it just made Spain happy.

So he had decided right then and there to quite his criminal career -even sending a letter promising Lovino so, and telling him he would get home soon-.

After he got out of jail of course, how else would he get to see his Lovi again?

So began his quest to get out of prison. It involved a bit of shady business with some fellow prisoners, and resulted in him breaking out in a very messy jail break -the details of which are probably not important-. As soon as he had been able to he caught a train headed towards home, now calling himself by his original name.

Spain was gone, and now there was just Antonio again. He would live a normal life, get a normal job and live with Lovino in peace (well, as much peace as someone could get living with someone like his Lovi). He imagined selling the house and having the two moving to the country and starting a garden. Each day they would spend their time working in the sun, taking relaxing siestas, and eating delicious food each night!

Antonio couldn't wait, and it took all he had not to shout out his happiness to the world now that he was heading straight to Central City, and back to Lovino.

He had kept his promise so far (save for the one incident with that man's watch...) and had even met up with his old friends again!

Antonio hadn't expected to run into his old partners, but here they were! He even got to meet some of his old pal's relatives. The three didn't talk much to each other about their family (his friend's still had no idea about Lovino) but Antonio had been able to figure from some of Gilbert's offhand comments from the past that he had a brother. Though looking at the two, Antonio would have never guessed that they were related.

But what was really freaking him out was Francis' niece. She looked exactly like Lovino.

In fact, when he had first seen her he had thought that Lovino was on the train. Then he was further confused by the dress (something Lovino would never wear... though Antonio had to admit it would look so cute!) and the lack of a scowl on the girl's face. When Francis had announced that she was related to him, he had been more then a little shocked. Normally such things would not bother him, but this was about his Lovino!

Felicia looked nothing like Francis, and the more and more Antonio looked at her the more she looked like Lovino. He remembered Lovi having mentioned that he once had a sibling. In fact, Lovino had told him that the reason he had been crying all those years ago had been because he had lost his brother (and well... because he had been hungry). But Antonio could see that Felicia was a girl, and couldn't be Lovino's_ brother_.

Antonio wondered briefly if Felicia was another long lost relative of Lovino's, but quickly dismissed the idea. He knew for a fact that the rest of Lovino's family had died a long time ago.

Maybe Felicia's looks were just a coincidence…. But even their haircuts were the same! How was that even possible? Antonio didn't even know that type of haircut could be for a girl!

"Hey Sp- Antonio, what the hell are you staring at?!" Gilbert's voice broke into his thoughts, and he realized he must have been spacing out for the past ten minutes or so.

"Hehe... Nothing." Spain said, just a little confused about this whole affair. "Uh, is it okay if I go to the bathroom my friends?" He needed a little break, thinking made his head hurt.

"Sure, no one's stopping you." Gilbert said as Antonio walked out of the compartment car.

Antonio headed towards the bathroom hoping maybe that a quick face-washing would clear his mind. He absentmindedly looked around at the various people both in the different compartment cars and outside in the train hall.

That was when he saw him. Even from the back there was no mistaking it. The tall figure with light blond hair and the signature long scarf easily gave him away. The appearance of the um... "heavily endowed" blonde girl running towards the tall figure only confirmed his suspicions.

Ivan was on the train.

Terror squeezed his heart as he ran back towards the compartment car before he could be seen. How did Ivan find him?

Antonio should have never struck a deal with him. How silly it was to think that Ivan and his crew had been caught in the prison break! Oh no... What would he do? No doubt Ivan had come to collect Antonio's side of the deal. That wouldn't do! He was going to have a comfortable life with his Lovino! Not run various (illegal) errands for the criminal group!

"-ermania was uh- Oh Hi Antonio!" Felicia greeted him as he rushed inside and closed the door. He slumped down in his seat, still shocked by his close encounter with Ivan.

"Did something happen?" Francis asked, worried after seeing his friend's uncharacteristically worried face. "Ah... I think we are in a bit of trouble my friends...hehe" Antonio gave a shaky laugh, nervously rubbing his head.

"Ve? What kind of trouble?" Felicia asked, just as the captain's voice could be heard overhead, and Antonio was sure that he could hear a slight shakiness to the voice that was not present before.

"Everyone, please stay in your compartment cars and evacuate the hallway immedia-"

A loud **BOINK** was heard, and the captain fell silent. Then a much different, and obviously female, voice began to talk.

"Uh He-Hello everyone. I'm really really sorry but- but uh could you please hand over all your cash? I'm sorry! And uh- what was it brother? Oh! Uh.. uh here."

There was some strange static through the speakers, but the noise could barely be heard over the various screams that broke out across the train car. It was a train heist! Antonio would have never imagined that Ivan and his gang would be insane enough to try and pull one off. Though they had been attempted a few times before, most train heists ended up in disaster for both the victims and the criminals themselves.

If Antonio wasn't panicking, he might have wondered why Felicia's scream was much deeper then most girls', but he was panicking. Felicia wasn't the number one thing on his mind at that moment, especially when a familiar voice began speaking to the passengers on the train.

"Ah, thank you sister. Please do listen to what the captain said, and stay in your compartment cars. It will be much cleaner that way, yes? Hand over all of your valuables to the girl who will be coming each of your compartment cars. I think we can all be friends. I don't want bad things to happen to my friends... but if you do not do what I say, I cannot help it, ya?"

In almost an instant the whole train seemed to become silent. The atmosphere became icy as everyone became frozen from fear. Antonio could remember Ivan's voice having that affect on people. His hopes that Ivan did not know he was on the train (and this was all just a horrible, horrible coincidence) were dashed away when the childlike voice spoke again.

"And to my very special friend Spain, Why did you run away? Do you not want to be friends? Ah well, it does not matter. We will find you, and then we will be friends, yes? All of you will be friends with Ivan."

With that final message the speakers shut off, leaving behind a silence that was only broken by the beating of their hearts.

It was Gilbert who spoke first.

"What the HELL did you Spain!?" He yelled, both angry and bewildered at what had just happened.

"I-I can explain..." Was all Antonio could get out before Gilbert started yelling again.

"UGH! This is gonna ruin everything!" Gilbert would have probably gone on a rant if Francis hadn't been there to calm him down.

"Don't get too angry. Let us hear what he has to say, perhaps it could help us get out of this mess, no?" Francis said, as both he and Gilbert looked towards Antonio for an explanation.

"Well, you see... I had to get out of that jail somehow. So I made a deal with Ivan's gang to help me get out. They would cause a disturbance and we would escape together, and I would have to do a few jobs for him.... But the prison break got a little messy, and I took all of the confusion as a chance to run away from them as well..." That wasn't really the full story, but it was enough to explain to his friends why Ivan had followed him to the train. He wanted his part of the deal.

"YOU WHAT?! Why couldn't you just have done a few jobs for him?! You've done plenty of stuff like that before!" Gilbert yelled, almost ready to hit his old friend.

"I'm sorry! But I promised Lovino I wouldn't do that anymore!" Antonio replied, trying to avoid the albino's wrath.

"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT?!" It only made it worse.

Antonio would have probably taken a few hits if Ludwig hadn't decided to interfere.

"Stop it you two." Gilbert's brother's voice rang out in an authoritative way. "What we need to do now is to put a plan together. If we don't do something then we'll be robbed, or worse, considering we have that guy with us." Ludwig looked briefly at Antonio, filling him with a wave of guilt knowing that he had put these people in such danger.

"Ve...What do we do Ludwig?" Felicia said, gripping tightly onto the large man's arm in fear.

Everyone else was looking at him (Antonio included) and in that instant Ludwig seemed to take on a sort of leadership position.

"Well. The first thing we should do is find some way to contact outside help. Seeing as there is a gang of criminals somewhere in the first train car, who are most likely slowly heading this way as we speak, it would be a good idea to head toward the end of the train. The caboose should have a phone which we could use to contact help, and wait there until a further plan of action is needed."

Antonio was impressed at how easily Ludwig seemed to take charge. Usually Antonio liked doing things with only a vague from of a plan -he worked best without a schedule to restrict him- but he supposed that it might be better to actually go into this with a plan.

They all agreed with this and decided to immediately exit their compartment cart. It was voted that Antonio should go first (since he was the one who brought these people on the train in the first place) and he held his breath as he stepped out onto the train hallway. If any one of Ivan's gang was out there, it was all over.

It was empty. He began breathing again and signaled everyone to follow him.

As quietly as they could, they made their way towards the caboose of the train. Luckily they had been in one of the last compartment cars, and it wasn't too far away. It didn't take them more then a few minutes to reach the door that lead to the caboose car.

They opened the door and the cold wind from outside rushed at them. The space between the caboose and the last passenger car had no roof on it, and the group could see their surrounding past by them on the fast moving train.

"So pretty.." Felicia said, before Ludwig told them to start moving again.

The inside of the caboose was relatively small. There were a few chairs, minimal lighting and (thankfully, thought Antonio) a phone. All five of them rushed towards the phone, with Francis being the one to pick it up and begin dialing the government's number (he was the one who knew it best, after all).

Francis stayed silent, waiting for someone to pick up, for what felt like hours. Antonio had almost given up hope when Francis finally began speaking.

"Hello? Hello! This is Fr- a passenger on the number 12 train heading for Central City." He stayed silent as the other line responded.

"Yes, I'm afraid we have met with a bit of a crisis...."

Antonio drowned out what was said next, not really wanting to hear about the mess he had gotten everyone into. He sat down on one of the couches in the room, and was surprised when he was joined by Felicia.

"Don't feel bad," the girl said, and Antonio had to wonder how she knew about his guilt (but then, who wouldn't feel a tad guilty in such a situation). She went on, "Ludwig will get us out of this! Just you see." She smiled at him, and he was glad to be comforted.

_What a sweet girl..._ he thought, _if only Lovino was more like this. _Oh! That was right! Lovino! Now was a good time to try and figure out the connection between him and this girl!

"So, Felicia? Do you have any family? Besides Francis I mean." He thought that was a good place to start.

Felicia looked a little unsure whether or not if she should answer, looking over to Ludwig for some clarification but seeing he was occupied (locking the caboose door, which Antonio thought was an excellent idea), and she seemed to decide to talk.

"Yea! I'm actually looking for my brother you see." She answered cheerfully. Brother? Maybe Lovino did have some family besides his brother after all!

"Really? What does he look like?" He asked excitingly, forgetting about the crisis he was so worried about just a few minutes ago.

"Well, he looks just like me! I really want to find him you see, he's the only blood family I have left." Wow! What a find! He couldn't wait to see Lovino's face when he tells him he might have found his family!

But there was still one problem. Lovino was looking for his brother, and Felicia was a girl.

Right?

Something began to gather in the back of Antonio's mind, little things, like Felicia's haircut, her flat chest, her voice, and the strange way she seemed to walk...

This something was a realization, forming in his mind, but not quite becoming a full thought yet. He might have gotten a hold of it, if Francis did not yell out in that moment.

"Mon dieu! They are on their way my friends! We are saved!" His exclamation of joy put his near-epiphany to the back of him mind as he rejoiced with everyone else.

They were free! All they had to do was wait here until the government could take hold of the train! Oh what luck!

The moment of joy was short lived though, as Ivan's voice rang above.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for your cooperation, you are all such good friends! Except for those of you in the last train cart... Natalia and I were not happy to see it empty. I thought I made it clear to stay in your compartment car, ya? But you are bad friends who do not listen. You need punishing, yes? I know where you are...." The last line was said in a sing song tone, as if this whole thing were just a game.

"Hiding in the caboose? Oh what fun... But locking the door will not keep us out. Natalia is very good at opening doors...We will see each other soon, yes?"

Just at that moment, as if on cue, a large and incessant pounding began on the other side of the caboose door.

Shit.

Antonio had seen what Natalia could do during the prison break, and there was no doubt in his mind that door would eventual fall from her wrath. There was no choice, he decided, they had to get off the train.

Oh well. How much harm could of jumping off a moving train? Antonio didn't really think further on the matter, instead opting to start his new task.

Opening up the side door of the caboose earned several strange looks from he's companions, but they would understand soon enough.

"I think its time to ditch our ride, don't you?" He said, smiling at them. Some people may call him stupid or reckless, but Spain had gotten himself out of many such situations because of his willingness to try things others wouldn't dare. Even now that he was Antonio, he was sure that he could still pull something like this off.

"Ladies first." He said, motioning for Felicia to make the first jump. The rest of his companions had come to gather around him and the small opening leading to the outside of the train.

"You really expect us to jump off the train?" Gilbert asked, speaking out the doubt that many of them seemed to have. But then all of them heard a loud **CRACK** and saw part of the (metal) door break. No one objected after that. In fact, when a pale hand come out from the crack in the door and started to tear it open, almost everyone was eager to jump.

Felicia and Ludwig jumped first (she insisted that they jump together), with Gilbert following soon after. Antonio and Francis didn't have time to check if they had landed safely, for in that moment the door caved in and Natalia entered the room.

Antonio knew Natalia would come after him -he was almost sure that her brother had told her specifically to come for him, and that girl would do anything for Ivan, even jump off a moving train- and there was only enough time for one more person to jump.

So with a quick moment he grasped Francis by the shoulders.

"My house is the first on Tienda St., go there and tell Lovino I'm sorry. It was nice knowing you my friend!"

Antonio gave one last cheerful smile to his friend before pushing him off. He saw Francis' shocked face for a moment, and then it was gone.

It was in that moment that Natalia reached him.

* * *

**Author's Note:** It's done! Yay!

Was it worth the wait?

I'm sorry it ended on a rather....um cliffhangery note. But don't worry! Spain has gone through much worse, and hopefully he will be alright in the end. But, unfortunatly, we will not find out what happened to the train and its passengers until the chapter after the next.

The poor gang... they thought getting to Central City would be that easy, didn't they? Too bad for them. ;)

Ahhh I hope I will be able to get up chapter 7 by next week, but do not act too surprised if I do not. But do not fear~ I will never give up on this story! Its my goal never to be more then two weeks or so late.... I hate keeping people hanging! Hope you enjoyed it, and see you next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's notes:** First, let me say, I AM REALLY REALLY SORRY. It's been like a month since my last update! This was totally not intentional guys. There was just so much stuff going on. I had hoped that my new classes would give me more time to write, but it actually took away some of the little time I had! And then practice got longer and I didn't get home every day till 8 and I still had to eat dinner, shower, do homework, and all that so I barely had any time. AND THEN on the weekend there was a tsunami warning where I live and all this other stuff that I won't bore you with.

Okay. Back to the story. To make up for it I'm just gonna tell you guys that almost EVERY question you have ever asked is answered in this chapter. It sorta just happened. So this chapter is reeeaallly long, and I hope it's not an info/back-story dump (I did my best to avoid that). Oh, and originally this was gonna be in Gilbert's POV, cause I planned to make the POVs switch in the cycle but I realized that wouldn't match well in the story. So now it is in Ludwig's POV.

That being said, I hope you guys enjoy!

* * *

Ludwig hit the ground with a rough impact, skidding across the snow-covered ground before coming to a stop. He stayed still for a moment, mentally checking to see if he had been injured in the jump. Luckily there was nothing serious, and he quickly got up to see how everyone else had fared. The noise of the train passing was loud, but soon it disappeared as the train moved farther and farther away. Ludwig briefly wondered how the passengers were faring before deciding that he had to concentrate on the problem at hand. He and his companions had jumped off a moving train. Just because he was unharmed didn't mean that everyone else wasn't. Not to mention they had no idea where they were, or how far Central City was. The main thing he had to concentrate on now was finding everyone and coming up with a plan.

It didn't take him long to find Feliciano, seeing as they jumped off at the same time, he was only a short distance away.

"Ve! Ludwig that was fun! Can we do it again?" Feliciano yelled out, running to embrace him.

Now that was awkward. Ludwig was quickly learning that this person was fond of physical contact (especially with him, strangely), he himself was a bit uncomfortable with such things. He gently pushed Feliciano away, looking him over to see if he had gotten any obvious injuries from the jump, but saw none.

"Are you hurt?" He asked, just to be sure.

"Nope!" Feliciano said while he shook his head for added measure, and Ludwig let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding.

"Let's look for the others then." He said, and they both started to walk along the train tracks. They walked like that for a while, their eyes looking over the snow laden ground for any sign of their missing companions.

They were walking across a heavily snow-covered clearing on which the train tracks were on, but further on their sides they could see that it lead into a more forested area. Ludwig had never seen anything like it and was at a lost as to where they could be. He wondered if Feliciano had any idea where they were and turned to ask him so.

"Have-"

However he stopped mid-question when he saw that Feliciano was violently shivering. Ludwig reprimanded himself. He should have checked earlier on the man. The dress he was wearing gave much less protection against the cold then his own clothes. Not to mention that Feliciano's dress was still wet from him having landed in the snow, and Ludwig knew that was only making the cold worse.

It didn't take him long to decide to take off his own coat and put it on Feliciano.

"Ve? Thank you Ludwig!" Feliciano said gratefully, and they both continued on their way.

It wasn't long till they could see the faint outline of people near the forest. Walking closer they found Francis and Gilbert, setting up a fire of sorts.

"Are any of you hurt?" Ludwig asked, though he highly doubted it since they were moving around easily enough. France's "_Oui_", which he assumed was a yes, and Gilbert's harsh "Duh." let him relax slightly.

It wasn't until Feliciano brought it up that he realized someone was missing.

"Where's Antonio?" He asked, gripping onto Ludwig's arm (again).

"He didn't jump." Francis said simply, his face telling them not to ask any further. It was quiet for a few moments, as no one knew what to say about the man's fate. Ludwig didn't know Antonio for very long, but he did know that his brother and Francis were close to him. He doubted any of them were in the mood to dwell on the subject.

"Do you know where we are?" Ludwig asked, changing the topic.

"I'm afraid not. Though I would guess that we were somewhere near the Norden Circle, with all the snow at this time of year." Francis answered, setting up some sticks for a makeshift fireplace.

Norden Circle! Ludwig nearly groaned. The Norden Circle was at least a four week distance to Central City on foot, and having left all of their remaining money (and clothes) on the train, it was unlikely they would be able to rent a carriage. If only they had been able to stay on the train.

But what was done was done. Right now they had to focus on getting to the nearest town as soon as possible. It was getting dark now, and it was already too late for them to explore the area for a path to civilization.

"We'll look for a town in the morning." Ludwig said, forming a plan. "We'll take turns keeping watch and tending the fire, and we can decide where to look when it's lighter out." Everyone nodded, too tired or not caring enough to go against the idea.

The sun had already set, and it seemed to be getting darker each minute. Gilbert seemed to have trouble starting the fire -which was unusual, seeing as how many nights he had spent outside in such places- and they needed the flame as soon as possible.

Feliciano was still shivering violently, and he burrowed himself further into Ludwig's arm in an attempt to warm himself. If this kept going the way it was he could risk hypothermia. Ludwig was tired of waiting for Gilbert to make the spark, and took away the rocks he had been using so he could try himself. Surprisingly his brother didn't resist and Ludwig was able to quickly start the fire.

For once everyone was silent, even Feliciano (who was focused on warming up). The only noise was of the fire crackling. He supposed that what happened on the train, and especially what happened to Antonio, was still heavy on everyone's minds. Usually Ludwig welcomed such quiet but, and he wondered if this was because he was getting used to Feliciano always talking, this time the silence seemed unnerving.

It was completely dark now, with the fire casting an orange glow on all four of them.

"I'll take first watch." Ludwig told them, but all three of them shook their heads.

"I don't feel like sleeping." Gilbert said grumpily as Francis agreed with him.

"I slept earlier, so I'm not tired." Feliciano smiled, more cheerful now that he was warm by the fire.

Ludwig knew it was probably better that they get some sleep, but he knew that neither Francis nor Gilbert would listen to him and he didn't want to start a fight.

It grew quiet again as everyone acknowledged neither of them would be sleeping soon. Feliciano grew uncomfortable with the silence and tried to lighten up the slightly-gloomy atmosphere.

"I would not mind something to pass the time." Francis replied, most likely grateful for a distraction from his thoughts.

"Whatever." Gilbert grunted. Usually he would be all over something like this, but Ludwig guessed that he was still upset over Antonio.

"I know! One time me and Elizaveta were cooking some pasta and there was this trouble with the sauce and-" Feliciano was interrupted by Gilbert before he could finish.

"NO. Don't talk about food. I'm fucking starving."

"Ve....okay." Feliciano looked down in disappointment. Ludwig felt sorry for him, he knew that he had just wanted to break the silence. He was deciding whether or not to reprimand his brother (would that be overreacting? His brother was obviously upset, but that didn't mean he had to take it out on others…) when Francis began to speak.

"Ah, if you want to hear a story my friends, I will give you one."

Feliciano immediately perked up, and Francis' previously worn out face took on new life as he began.

"I will let you in on a little secret.... You sit tonight before royalty!"

Ludwig stiffened. He hadn't been talking to Gilbert, had he? But no, a glance towards his brother showed him that he was just as confused (if a bit annoyed) as he was.

"Ve, Francis! You're so silly. I'm only pretending to be the princess!" Feliciano laughed, causing Francis to give a low chuckle.

"Oh no, my friend. I did not mean your masquerade. For you see, I am a descendant of the once royal family of _Francia_!" He now wore a broad smile, obviously very proud of his linage.

"The who now?" Gilbert asked.

Francis sighed. "I can understand why you might not have heard of them, _mon ami_. They collapsed a while before The Fall, my family had, as you could say, ran its money a bit thin and had to sell its place among the royals. I was very young when we moved out of the palace and into the commoner's area. Ah! But this turned out to be good fortune for us! The people did not come for us during The Fall and we were able to live peacefully and earn quite a bit of money again." He finished with a victorious air but soon fell into a slight melancholy.

"My father...Paris... he always longed for the old days. He tried to teach me and my brothers about our traditions. He would always call us by our royal names -mine was France, a pretty name, no?- and tried to teach us French. You see our family was the only of the royals to have preserved our ancestors' language, and my father was very proud of that. It is a shame he died before he could finish teaching me... it is a beautiful language. I got my job in the government so I could get the opportunity to study it, but now seeing as I am fired... "

There was again more silence as Francis became quiet. Ludwig felt a bit awkward, not very sure if he should give his condolences or wait for the man to talk again.

"...I'm-"

" But one most not dwell on these things. _Je suis désolé_, I should tell you more amusing things then this. Ah that is it! I shall tell you all about the orphanage I lived near. Oh do not look at me like that, it is not a sad story! Many of my friends were from there, and I would often go visit them when I was young." Francis began to laugh as if remembering something.

"Gilbert, I don't think you've met him as he works in the government, but I swear- he has the biggest eyebrows I have ever laid eyes on! And there-"

"You know Arthur wouldn't appreciate that comment."

Everyone around the fire nearly jumped up in surprise by the figure who was standing behind Francis.

It was very dark by now and the little light provided by the fire was not enough for Ludwig to tell who it was. Francis, however, seemed to instantly recognize the figure, quickly standing up to greet him.

"Matthew?! What are you doing here?"

The two men embraced, both surprised to see the other.

"I should be asking you that. I'm here on business...didn't you get my letter? I sent it to your work."

"Oh no! Mathieu... I have told you to send such things to my home address! I was- I recently left the government's employment. I could not have gotten your letter! I would not have left you without a reply, no?"

"Eh..if you say so..."

Before the two could continue their conversation a very confused Feliciano asked what they were all wondering. "Ve...Is this a friend of yours, Francis?"

"How rude of me!" Francis called out, pulling the figure closer to the fire where they could see him more clearly. "This is Matthew Williams, an old friend of mine. Matthew, this is Gilbert, Ludwig, and Felicia."

"Um..Nice to meet you all." Matthew (who seemed very shy to be put in the spotlight) spoke in a quiet voice that Ludwig almost didn't hear.

"But...but what are you all doing out here in this weather?" The newcomer asked, confused.

Feliciano was happy to fill him in. "Well we don't know where we are! We were on this train, it was really big and there were lots of people and it was really fun but there were these big bad guys and we had to get jump off the train, which was really scary, and now we're here!"

Ludwig could hardly understand any of what he said, he didn't even know it was possible to talk so long without a breath (though it was Feliciano), but thankfully Matthew seemed to understand (or was just too polite to ask again).

"Oh, well, I guess it's not good for you all to sleep out here. I can lead you to the town if you want, it's only a few minutes away."

"That would be nice, thank you." Ludwig said, thankful for such luck. Now they wouldn't have to wait out in the cold, and could maybe even sleep in a bed. He began to put out the fire as everyone stood up to follow Matthew.

"It's not very far." He said, and began walking through the forest.

They began walking on what seemed to be a dirt path (it was still very dark and hard to see) and Ludwig was sure that they would have found it in the morning, though he was thankful they didn't have to wait till then. Feliciano, who was clinging to his arm again (he had stopped trying to make him stop, and was even growing used to it), was still dangerously cold, and Ludwig wanted to get him to a warmer place as soon as possible.

"Hey!...you... Do they have a bar...where we're going?" Gilbert called out to Matthew. It wasn't unusually for his brother to make beer one of his priorities, but it was unusual for his brother to be so out of breath from such a short walk. He was lagging behind the group, and Ludwig was starting to wonder if it wasn't just Antonio that was making his brother act so strange.

"Yes, there is a bar. Though I don't know if you'd want to go there today..." Matthew replied. "Maybe it would be better for you to rest."

"I... need a drink." Gilbert assured him.

Francis, who seemed to also notice Gilbert's strange behavior, he walked towards him in concern. "Are you alright? My friend, if you are injured you should tell us."

"Hah! I'm...too awesome to be...hurt!" Gilbert tried to laugh, but soon held his chest in pain.

"Gilbert!" Francis called out in alarm.

"I'm fine!" He yelled, although it was obvious that the opposite was true.

Being so quiet, having trouble with the fire, and being so out of breath. Ludwig had seen enough. He walked towards his brother, now sure that he had been injured when he jumped off the train.

"Hey, West! Get away from me!" Gilbert yelled as Ludwig forcibly lifted up his brother's shirt to get a better look at the area Gilbert had grabbed earlier.

"Why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Ludwig asked as he saw the large purple bruise across Gilbert's stomach.

"Ve! That looks like it hurts!"

"It's fine! Can... we just get a drink now?!" Gilbert was still trying to play off the injury, but it was now obvious to everyone that he needed medical attention.

"No. There will be no beer until we get this checked out." Ludwig said firmly to his brother. "Is there a hospital or medical building we could go too?" He asked, turning to Matthew.

"Um! I don't think that it's open right now. I've only been here for a little while..." He appeared very flustered, he was probably not used to dealing with such things. "But, I think I might know someone who could help at the inn I stay at."

"Eek! Ludwig, I think he's bleeding!"

"I am not! Shut up Feli- Felicia!"

"Felicia's right. But it's only under the skin." Ludwig calmed the two of them down as Matthew began to lead them to the inn.

"I've only talked to the owner a couple of times and he's a little hard to understand, but from what I can gather, he's wife is a part-time nurse." A nurse was better then nothing, and even though it probably hurt a lot, Gilbert's injury didn't look so life-threatening enough to need a doctor.

"Here it is!" Matthew said as they approach a rather small, but homey looking, building. The warm atmosphere inside immediately melted away the cold as they walked in.

"W'lc'm' b'ck." A tall blond man with glasses greeted them from behind a counter.

"Hello Berwald! Is your wife home? One of my friends is injured." Matthew said as Gilbert sat on a chair with a grunt.

Berwald, who Ludwig guessed was the owner of the inn that Matthew had talked about, nodded and walked out of the room to get his wife. He shortly arrived with a thin and much shorter blond man.

"Which one of you is hurt?" asked the blond man in a soft and concerned voice.

"Gilbert, he's the one sitting in the chair over there." Francis said, pointing to Gilbert who was currently wearing a grumpy expression.

"I don't need a doctor! Its fine."

"Now now, I'm a nurse, I'm here to help. Just let me see what you got here." He said, instructing Gilbert to take off his shirt.

"Ve, Ludwig? Didn't he say that he would get his wife?" Feliciano whispered, a little too loudly, to him. The man seemed to hear him and, while not looking away from his examination of Gilbert's bruise, began talking to them.

"Oh? Did Berwald call me his wife again? I swear, no matter how many times I tell him not to, he keeps calling me that! Oh but he means well... hmmm. Berwald? Could you fetch me some ice?"

"Ow!" Gilbert yelled in pain as Tino touched the bruise. He whispered a short "sorry" as Berwald handed him a packet of ice along with bandages.

"Thank you! I forgot I needed those." Tino gave a brief appreciative look towards his...husband (Ludwig was not very sure what they were anymore) before placing the ice pack on the bruise and wrapping the bandage on Gilbert's side.

"There we go. The ice should help the swelling."

"Will he be alright?" Feliciano asked, and Ludwig had to wonder how he could be so concerned about someone he had only known for a few days (and had made him cross-dress for that matter). Tino gave a sympathetic smile in their direction.

"Don't worry, your friend will be fine. He just has a bruised rib. It will take a while to heal, but he's not in any immediate danger."

"Exactly how long is a while?" Gilbert, who looked a bit more comfortable now, asked impatiently.

"Bruised ribs take around four to six weeks to heal."

"AGGH! I don't have time for this! Don't you have any mumbo jumbo I could use to get better?"

"...mumbo jumbo? I'm really sorry, but bruised ribs have to heal on their own. "

Gilbert groaned again as Francis thanked Tino for his help.

"Where are you all staying?" Asked Tino, bringing up a point they had not thought about.

"Eh...maybe they can stay in my room?" Matthew asked shyly, to which Berwald shook his head.

"N't b'g n'gh."

"That is to say," translated Tino " Your room isn't big enough to fit all of these people. If you need a place to stay, you could rent one of our rooms!"

"We don't have any money." Ludwig stated, remembering how they had left all of their valuables on the train.

"Hmmm..." Tino paused for a moment then, after glancing at Berwald, began talking again. "You could stay for free tonight! It is the anniversary of The Fall after all. It's a time to be generous!"

"Ahh, thank you for your kindness!" Francis told them, and Ludwig was happy thinking that he could sleep in a bed again.

"...Ve?" Feliciano spoke up. "What...what is this "Fall"? I heard Francis mention it earlier but...I've never heard of it."

Now that was a shock. Ludwig had never heard of anyone who didn't know of the Fall. Not to mention that Feliciano was around the same age as him, so he had to have experienced the event for himself, right? Judging by their faces (except for Berwald, who wore the same intimidating look), everyone else was equally surprised.

"Huh?! You must be from a different country!" Tino called out. "Well... it is the day's anniversary. Do you want me to tell you the story?"

Feliciano nodded as Berwald left and returned with drinks for them all. Ludwig should have left then, he really should have. Stories about The Fall allows left with a bad headache. But for some reason he decided to stay and listen, though he would no doubt regret it later.

"Well... it was not a long time ago, when the Royal Family still ruled. The King had long abused his power, only spending money on parties and luxuries while completely ignoring his people. After years of oppression and poverty, the commoners banded together to fight back! It was a small resistance at first, but eventually it grew and grew to an army that could take down the royals! They waited for a time when the King and the nobles would be vulnerable. They didn't have to wait long. On this exact day, sixteen years ago, the King held a large ball in an attempt to appease the commoners. But by doing so he ended up wasting the commoners' money even more when he could have used it to improve the economy or the other multiple problems facing our country at that time! Now more angry then ever, the commoners stormed the Palace, stole valuables, and lit the Palace on fire! Admittedly, it got a little chaotic after that, and many people were killed. But it didn't take long for everyone to unite together to create a new government, one that was very similar to our previous one but destroyed the royal social class and distributed wealth more fairly! After selling the goods stolen from the Palace, the government then had enough money to greatly improve the conditions of our country. While we may not be as rich as most countries, all our citizens are equal! It is because of those brave people that we are able to live like we do now!"

"So let's drink to our proud country and it's people!" They all drank from their cups, and soon after Tino sent them to their rooms. He, Feliciano, and Gilbert were to stay in a two bedroom room, while Francis decided to stay in Matthew's room (Tino had suggested that Gilbert sleep in his own bed, and Francis had wanted to "catch up on old times" with Matthew).

"This is the only room available. So is it alright if you two share a bed?" Tino asked nervously as Feliciano jumped onto the bed in an exhausted heap. It took a while for him to remember that Tino saw Feliciano as a girl, and worried that "Felicia" might object to sharing a bed with a man.

"It's fine." He reassured him while "Felicia" let out a loud "Yup!" and Tino happily left them to join Berwald back down-stairs. They all took turns bathing (with Gilbert taking an especially long bath, as recommended by Tino) and were able to change into clothes that Francis brought them. It was then that Ludwig learned that Matthew was a merchant, and sold his items (which, thankfully, included clothes) as he traveled across the country.

"Mathieu said we could have these. Such a sweet boy, allowing us to take them without paying... I had to guess each of your size, but I hope they fit well." Francis said, placing the new clothes on their beds. "I brought some pants for you Feliciano, in case you're getting tired of wearing those girl's clothes. But when you step out of this room you'll have to remember to put on a dress, understand? Everyone still thinks you're a girl after all."

Feliciano nodded as he immediately changed into the boys clothes. "Thank you!" Ludwig had to wonder again why he had agreed to cross-dress, the dress definitely didn't look comfortable. He also wondered how the man could wear the dress so well (though he had walked strangely for the first few hours of wearing, but soon after began walking regularly).

"How are we gonna get to Central City now?" Gilbert asked before Francis could leave.

"Ah, that is another problem that has been fixed by sweet Mathieu. He said he is willing to let us travel on his caravan with him. Central City is within his route and it should only take around two weeks to get there, so we will be there before the deadline."

"Two weeks!? But someone else might claim the money by then!" Gilbert yelled and he did have a point, they were not the only ones trying to present the "runaway princess".

"We have no choice. The nearest train station is more then 30 miles away, not to mention that there is a chance that the government might have temporarily shut down all the stations after that train heist." Francis told them, finishing the conversation as he left to return to his own room.

Two weeks was better then missing the deadline entirely, and they had a confirmed way to get to Central City. Perhaps it was better this way, with the extra two weeks they would have more time to teach Feliciano what he needed to know to pass the questioning. Ludwig relaxed a bit, relieved that they now had a concrete plan to go by.

By then they were all exhausted. Each of them said their good nights and quickly went to bed. However, it took a while for Ludwig to go to sleep, it felt strange sleeping next to Feliciano (though not uncomfortable, he had to admit), but he soon drifted to sleep.

And then the dream came.

* * *

_I had never seen the great hall in the Palace so crowded. It seemed as if every corner was occupied in such a way that I could no longer see the floor. Everyone was dressed beautifully and it was fun to see all the different costumes and colors in one place. Although I enjoyed talking to people, I was never very good at talking to them. Being surrounded by so many adults made me nervous, especially when they picked me up to gush over me, so when I got the chance I sneaked away from the party._

_I was hiding somewhere outside the great hall when Prussia found me. Father most likely sent him._

_"Hey! West! Aren't you enjoying the party?"_

_He was wearing his best clothes for the occasion and carrying the much too-large-for-him sword that Father had recently given him. No doubt he was enjoying all of the attention. _

_"Come on. Don't be such a wuss. We gotta get back there, the feast is gonna start!"_

_Prussia pressed on, but I didn't feel like going back into the crowd. I hoped that if I ignored him he would go away. No such luck._

_"Just get up will you? Dad says I have to bring you back."_

_"Since when have you cared about what Father wants?" I asked, genuinely curious._

_"Since he got me this kick-ass sword! That's when." My brother let out a huge laugh before moving onto something else. "Yeah, but this party is starting to get a bit lame. I'm up for exploring if you are." _

_It was times like this that it was hard to believe that he was older then me, with the way he acted so reckless. I nodded, standing up to walk with him down the corridor. Although we had lived in the Palace all our lives it was still big enough for us not to have seen everything, especially some of the rooms that the adults liked to keep us out of._

_We had been walking around for a while, but had not found anything interesting, when we heard voices near by._

_"Shhh. Quiet now kids."_

_It was coming from one of the many secret passages ways (this wasn't the first time we had explored the castle, so we already knew most of the secret places), one that lead out of the Palace if I remembered correctly._

_"Where are we going? Where's papa?" _

_I would recognize that voice anywhere. What was the princess doing here? Shouldn't she still be at the party?_

_Not waiting for my brother, I ran towards the voices to see what was going on. If they had hurt her-_

_"Germany!" Her happy voice immediately put any fears I had to rest, that and seeing that she was unhurt. Alongside of her were her brother and two of the most trusted advisors to the royal family. The princess ran towards me and circled me in a hug that stopped all of my brain function._

_"Did you see what happened? Feli and Lovi won't tell me." She gripped on to me tighter, and the only response I could give her was a few nervous mutterings._

_Luckily Prussia, who had followed me, was able to find out in my place._

_"What the hell is going on here?! Where are you taking the royal brats?" He pulled out his sword in a weak attempt to intimidate the two adults. Although my brother was much older then any of us, I believed that he was still much too young to stand much of a chance against the older men._

_"Calm down your lordship. We have orders from the King to get the prince and princess out of here as soon as possible." One of the advisers explained, causing Prussia to put away his sword._

_"Things must really be in the shit bucket if he's getting his kids outta here." Prussia wondered out loud before turning to me. "Let's go West, Dad should know what's going on."_

_"No." I couldn't leave, even if I was small, I still wanted to protect her. "I'm staying with the princess." I looked at both my brother and the advisors, making sure that they knew that I meant what I said._

_"Fine. Someone has to watch you." Prussia said, giving up. The two advisors, their names were Feliciano and Lovino I think, didn't verbally give their consent but allowed us to follow them out of the passage way._

_We were soon outside of the Palace, near the back end, where a small carriage awaited us. By now the princess was shaking, and I didn't blame her. The adults would often talk about some bad thing happening and, now that the King ordered them to leave, it was scary to think that the bad event was upon us._

_I was still clinging onto the hope that this wasn't happening, that it was all a joke, and soon everything would go back to normal. Prussia would get me into trouble, Father would teach me, the prince would yell at me, and I would try to spend more time with the princess. Maybe we could draw together again and she could teach me how to draw rabbits better, though I would never be as good as her… _

_Then I saw the fire._

_I could see them in the distance, thousands of torches moving at once towards the front of the Palace. It was a mob. _

_"Shit." Prussia muttered as everyone moved quickly towards the carriage. By now both the princess and the prince were crying and nothing I could do would make them stop. Prussia was the first in the carriage, and Feliciano lifted both me and their majesties into it as Lovino began to drive. _

_We moved as fast as the wind, heading in a far direction from the mob, but it was not enough. What happened next was all a blur…_

_We had hit a log, or something someone from the mob had placed on the road, and the carriage flipped over. I blacked out, and when I came to we were upside down somewhere in a ditch off the road. _

_"Italy?" My heart gripped in fear, waiting for her to respond. There was only silence. I got up as fast as I could to see if she was alright. I wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more frightened when I saw she wasn't there. It seemed as if I was the only one left in the carriage, with both her, her brother, and my own brother missing. Had she gotten out? How long had I been unconscious?_

_I struggled to get out of the carriage to see what was going on. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, and as soon as I stepped out it became apparent I was on a battlefield. _

_A small fight must have broken out but it seemed to be long over. There were only a few corpses, all of them adults, but it was enough to terrify me. I nearly threw up as I saw the unmoving body of Feliciano before I quickly averted my eyes. _

_I turned away from the ground for a moment, but even then the horror didn't stop. High in the sky was a burning fire coming from the direction of the Palace. They- they had lit it on fire! What would happen to Father? To all of the other people there?_

_For one horrible moment I thought I was all alone, but my brother's voice called out to me from nearby._

_"West! I thought you were dead… you missed the fight. I helped out a bit, but…" He looked exhausted as he rested against a tree trunk, his sword out and bloody. I was happy to see that he was okay, but there was still one pressing thing on my mind._

_"Where…where is she?"_

_His eyes broke off contact with mine. It felt like a rock was dropped in my stomach._

_"Where's Italy?" The rock got heavier as Prussia continued to look down. It felt like an eternity had passed when he looked up at me._

_"She's over there." He said, pointing a little ways off the road. "Look, West, I'm sorry-" I didn't wait long enough for him to finish. I raced towards where he was pointed, panicking now. What would I do with myself if she was hurt? Or- no. I wouldn't think about that. I couldn't think about that. I needed her. As long as she was okay we would all be alright. It could just be the four of us- her, me, Prussia, and Romano, it would all be OKAY. I ran as fast as my small feet could take me, until I reached her._

_"…Italy." There she was, lying against the snow. But she looked nothing like the happy, energetic girl I knew and loved. She looked broken. _

_"Itay? Italy! Wake up!" I started crying, even shaking her in a desperate attempt to wake her up. But she stayed still. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening._

_"Germany…" For a split second I believed it was her voice but it was only my brother, for once dropping that nickname._

_"It's no use. She's gone."_

_"No." I refused to believe that. "She's just sleeping…she's a deep sleeper. She'll wake up any moment now, right Italy?"_

_"She's dead, West. And so will we if we don't get moving."_

_But I couldn't move, it was if my brain and body had decided to shut down. Nothing made sense anymore. How could it? What was there left if she was gone?_

_And through the night the flames grew higher, consuming everything. The Palace, Father, all of her things, my old life, everything was burned, leaving nothing behind. Nothing was left._

_This wasn't happening. None of this was happening. None of this was real._

_ I would wipe this from my mind. _

_There was no Italy, no Germania, no Romano, no one to mourn, because they never existed. I had never known any of them._

_My name wasn't Germany._

* * *

Ludwig woke up in a cold sweat.

"Shit." He had had that dream again. Ever since he had heard of this stupid "Runaway Princess" scheme it had become re-occurring. Ludwig had thought that leaving the Archives would have put a stop to these nightmares and headaches. But now he wondered if he had quit the best job he had ever had for no reason, if both were now coming back.

He blamed Gilbert. Ever since he was young his brother had been filling his head with fake stories of how they were really nobles of royal descent, trying to lighten up the poverty they lived in. Gilbert even went so far as to rarely call him by his real name, preferring to use that stupid nickname "West". Going on about how he was supposed to rule the western half of their land or some other nonsense he made up to pass the time.

He loved his brother dearly, but Gilbert had and always will be a liar. So of course he was lying about this.

At least he thought so.

There was a small thought that was beginning to rest in his mind that had been building ever since he first saw Feliciano. He had been having these nightmares ever since he was a kid, and the princess always looked the same. That day, not so long ago, when he stumbled on Feliciano he remembered feeling as if he had met the man before. It wasn't until he had put on that dress that he could place where.

Feliciano looked exactly like the girl in his dreams. Or the prince from his dream, though the scowl he always seemed to be wearing definitely did not match Feliciano's constant happy smile which eerily matched the princess' own. That was impossible, or an extreme coincident. But the dreams weren't real, so it wasn't as if that was how the runaway princess really looked like.

Maybe that story of the Fall was just getting to him. Ludwig knew he would regret listening, he always had horrible dreams when he heard that story. This nightmare was the result of that, just a horrible mix of Gilbert's tales, this scheme, and that story. Nothing more.

Ludwig tried to go back to sleep, resting his eyes for a few before he was awoken by a crying Feliciano.

Feliciano was still asleep, but it was obvious he was having a nightmare as tears slid out his still closed eyes. Ludwig had never seen him cry and, though he was reluctant to admit it, it brought a strange pain in his heart. Feliciano was always smiling, so he had to wonder what type of nightmare would cause him to cry so much.

"Feliciano?" He tried to whisper, so as not to wake up his brother, to wake him up. Feliciano's eyes opened wide, still heavy with tears, as he broke out of his nightmare.

"Are…are you alright?" He tried to ask, but was surprised when Feliciano wrapped him in a tight hug. Ludwig was unsure of what to do as his shirt started to become wet with tears, finally deciding on a soft pat to Feliciano's back.

"Uh…there there. It's okay." He said awkwardly, hoping that he was helping.

"It was horrible…It was so cold, but there was this fire! And- and there was so much blood and he wasn't moving-" Feliciano roughly whispered while he tugged on tighter to him. "and then they started fighting and I didn't know what to do- and he told me to run but-" Feliciano couldn't finish as he began sobbing again.

"It's just a nightmare. You're alright now. It's okay." Ludwig assured him. The two of them stayed like that for a while, until Feliciano's sobs grew silent and he became more relaxed. Ludwig wondered if he had fallen asleep again when he suddenly heard him whisper gratefully.

"Thank you...Germany." And with that Feliciano drifted into a peaceful sleep, with Ludwig following soon after.

It wasn't till the morning that he realized what Feliciano had called him and how normal, how right, it had felt.

* * *

**Author's notes: **Phew! Alrighty then! We now know who the princess is, what happened with Gilbert and Ludwig and all that other good stuff.

_Je suis désolé : _I am sorry. The rest you probably know :P_  
_

Oh, and if you wondering why Francis sometimes calls Matthew Mathieu, its because thats his "french" nickname for him. He usually uses it when being affectionate. It also physically hurts me to write Francis saying "Matthew". Francis' family is the only royal to preserve their language because even now the French are very protective of it. Also because a Francis that doesn't speak even a little French seems wrong, no?

So, I am hoping since it is now the GLORIOUS Spring break that I will now be able to write the chapters much faster! There are only two or three chapters left in this little baby (I feel a little sad thinking about it... but accomplished too!) and I'm hoping to write some ahead of time so I can get a better uploading schedule. The next chapter will be in Alfred's view, and we will be finding out what happened to Spain and the people on the train! There will be more information on Alfred, Arthur, Francis, and Matthew's past together, and more!

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I look forward to seeing you next time! :D


	8. Chapter 8

**Arthur's Note: **I am SO sorry you guys! I meant to put this chapter up WAY earlier, but life has been getting in the way. I've hardly had any time to write this past few weeks. Even my spring break time was taking away literally the day after I wrote the last chapter! The whole week was spent with me going in and out of the hospital (nothing serious, I just had to take a bunch of annoying tests). Then I had to finish this thing for a competition, had a couple of tournaments, more tests, blah blah blah enough of the excuses.

We haven't heard from these guys since Chapter three, huh? Well they get one more chapter to themselves before the last chapter. Man, sometimes I can't believe I've gotten this far! Thanks to everyone who has stayed with this story, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Alfred was bored. Like, really really bored. He was currently passing the time by staring at the telephone and waiting for it to ring. Arthur was busy fixing up some of his questions and doing more research, both of which he would not let Alfred help with. Even when Alfred promised it wouldn't be like last time when he accidentally destroyed his partner's papers -He swore he didn't do it on purpose, he just needed a place to put his coffee. It wasn't **his** fault he spilled it, well it sorta was but that's besides the point- Arthur still didn't listen and had forbidden him from touching any of the work papers.

There had hardly been any one to interrogate for the past few days, and the two had been left with nothing to do. Alfred wasn't sure why no one had been coming, he guessed that it was because some had heard about the type of questions they had been asking and decided to study up, but he was still bored nonetheless.

"Arthur?" His partner looked up from his paper work with a disgruntled sigh. "Yes?" He asked, although he already knew what was coming.

"Are you suuurree that there aren't any new people to interrogate?" Alfred asked in a near-whine.

"No. For the sixteenth time, there is **no one **to question." Arthur turned his attention back to his papers. "Just find something useful to do."

There **was** nothing useful to do, especially since Arthur wouldn't let him help with the papers, so Alfred went back to staring at the phone. Maybe if he willed hard enough someone would call and give him an awesome job to do.

He just stared at it…

Staring... Come on!

_RIINNG _

It worked! The phone barely had enough time to ring for a second time before Alfred answered it.

"Hello! This is Officer Alfred Jones, professional hero speaking!" He heard a small groan on the other end before the person began to speak.

"Jones. Again with the hero business? Aru, you kids these days… Anyway, there was a train heist that we were able to interrupt and-"

"Oh!" Alfred yelled, interrupting his boss "I heard about that! One of the trains coming towards here got robbed, right? The trains have been shut down cause of that."

"Yes, aru. Let me finish. We were able to stop the heist, and we've been holding the criminals and some of the passengers for questioning over at headquarters. There's a lot of people here and we could use a hand."

Awesome! Alfred would have immediately said "yes!" but he remembered Arthur.

Even though they were technically equal partners in this project, Arthur had spent the most work on it and was in charge of everything. Alfred wondered if Arthur would appreciate him running out to help out at headquarters… What if someone came in?

Usually he wouldn't hesitate to ignore what others cared about, but he had been trying to be better about it around Arthur. It was fun to tease him and all, but sometimes his friend (well, he liked to think they were still friends…) took some things too seriously.

"Uh, wait Yao." He told his boss before turning to Arthur. He was looking up at him (and had probably been for a while) and looked a bit confused.

"Well, aren't you going to go? I thought you like train heists and all that rubbish."

"I can go?" Alfred asked, hopeful glee spreading across his face.

"Of course, I'm not going to stop you or anything." Arthur turned away, a bit red.

"YES!" Alfred did an excited jump in the air. "Thanks!" And, just for the hell of it, he grabbed Arthur in a quick impromptu hug.

"Get off me you git!" Arthur yelled, his face now a full and bright red, as he tried to push him off. Alfred laughed a bit before he let his partner go.

"And the hero is off! See ya Artie!"

"Don't call me Artie!" Arthur yelled at him but Alfred was already out the door and heading towards headquarters.

* * *

"Jones! I didn't know if you were coming, you didn't answer me on the phone aru!" His boss scolded him as soon as he came in. Yao looked tired and Alfred guessed that he was getting frustrated with this train incident.

Headquarters, a large building not far from the site of the old Palace (now turned Archives), was incredibly busy. People were going in and out of the station in a hurry, a few of them being co-workers that Alfred recognized. However most of them were people he had never seen and he guessed that they were some of the passengers that were able to leave.

"Sorry boss! So what do you need me to do?" He probably would've added a "hero" somewhere in there but Yao (who was usually more calm and collected) looked like he was really angry. It must be really bad then.

Yao seemed to realize that Alfred was trying to be helpful, and seemed to calm down a bit.

"I have to interrogate the main boss of the culprit, aru. But we have some passengers from the train heist in the other room you can question."

"Awww. But civilians are innocent aren't they? It's not hero-like to interrogate them!" Alfred protested.

"Look," Yao said, "I've been taking care of this whole mess for the past week now, aru. We have to interview every person of interest, regular citizen or criminal. As I told you, we are short on people and it would be a great help if-"

"Don't worry! I'll do it." Alfred interrupted, "But where do I question them?"

Yao seemed to relax a bit and he pointed towards a small room near the entrance. " Over there aru. I'll ask someone to bring you the first passenger to question." With that Yao walked off to do more work and Alfred headed toward the room.

It was very small and painted almost entirely white. Although he had been working at the headquarters for nearly a year he had never been inside this particular room before. But despite that it felt familiar to him, like a place from a memory or a dream. It didn't take him long to remember where he had seen such a place.

This room wasn't exactly the same as that one from all those years ago but it was eerily similar. He had spent quite a bit of time in that other room as a child and, as he waited for the citizen he would question, his mind was filled with the memories from that far away place.

_The seat was too big for him, engulfing him and making him feel tiny. Everything here was big, the chairs, the tables, everything. The small space only made everything seem bigger, and he was anxious to get out. The door opened and three adults came in._

_"This is Alfred. He's been here for two years or so. We think he's about six years old. Come inside and meet him." One of the workers of the orphanage said, looking at the couple as he brought them into the room. If what the worker had told him was true, then these people were interested in adopting him. And only him. That wouldn't do._

_The two adults took a seat across from him, the large table separating them now. Alfred had been in enough of this "interviews" to know what would happen. They would ask him a few questions and, based on what they thought of him, would choose whether to take him or not. He scooted closer to the table to get a better view of the couple._

_They were average looking and didn't look mean or anything, he supposed that was good. They would take good care of one of the other many kids at the orphanage, seeing as he wasn't ready to leave this place just yet._

_"Hello Alfred." The young woman asked him, trying to encourage him to speak. It was now or never._

_"Hell... *cough*..lo" He said in a weak and low voice, shortly falling into a coughing fit after. After filling the room with hard, body-rocking coughing he let his head fall to the desk._

_"..Is there something wrong with him?" The man asked as he looked up at the worker worriedly. "Not that I'm aware of!" The worker tried to assure them, looking at Alfred with a wary glance before mumbling under his breath, "I was so sure he was one of the healthy ones..."_

_Yes! Alfred knew that, because there were thousands of kids at the orphanage, it was hard for the workers to keep track of which kids were sick and which were not. If the worker was starting to doubt his health, then he had a good chance now._

_He added another coughing fit, this one lasting for at least five minutes, and he bulged his eyes as best as he could for an added effect. _

_"My God! Honey, this poor boy! He would get better medical attention with us!"_

_Uh-oh. These really were good people then. He guessed it was time to really drive the point home._

_"So you'll *cough* take me?" Alfred asked, looking up at the couple. The two looked back at him, their faces grim but determined. "Yes." They said._

_"Even if I'm *cough* highly contagious?" Their faces dropped immediately._

_"Is he serious?" One of them asked the worker, who by now was sweating nervously. "No! The boy is merely kidding. He's not contagious in any way!" _

_"That's *cough* what they told papa... and the last couple that came in here." Alfred put his head down in a faked moment of silence._

_The worker broke._

_"OKAY! I think that's enough of Alfred!" The worker laughed nervously as he rushed Alfred out of the room. "Let me show you some **different** children."_

_And just like that he was free! Alfred immediately dropped the sick kid persona, going back to his happy and energetic self. He barely walked a few steps out of the room before he bumped into something._

_"Huh?" He could have sworn nothing was there, but a quiet yelp of pain proved him wrong. He looked again and saw his younger brother, Matthew, who had been waiting outside of the room for him as usual._

_"Sorry Mattie! Didn't see you!" He smiled, he was in a good mood now that he knew that he wasn't leaving the orphanage._

_"How'd it go?" Matthew asked, looking up at him with big worried eyes. He knew his brother was scared of what would happen to him if Alfred was adopted, no one really noticed him and when they did it was because they mistook him for Alfred. But he was a good older brother, and he would be sure never to leave his brother alone! That was why he refused to be adopted by any one who wouldn't also adopt his brother. Though, if Alfred was being truthful with himself, there was also another reason..._

_"It went great! Don't worry, I'm not leaving yet!" He gave a wide smile to his brother, who sighed (Matthew didn't approve of the methods he was using, but Alfred knew that he was relieved that he wouldn't be left alone). _

_A quick glance at the sole clock in the area revealed that it was now around four o'clock. They would be there by now!_

_ "Come on! Let's go!" Alfred grabbed Matthew, dragging him towards the outskirts of the orphanage. He dragged his brother until they reached the metal chain face that hugged the borders of the building. There in the crack, between patches of dying weeds, was a small hole just big enough for a child to fit through. _

_"You can go first Mattie!" He said, letting go of his brother. Matthew nodded, although he did not like breaking the rules and leaving the orphanage, he was just as eager to meet their friends as Alfred was. Once he was on the other side it was Alfred's turn._

_It was a bit of a tight squeeze (he really shouldn't eat so much) and the chain metal tugged at his clothes. But soon he too was on the other side, and both he and Matthew began the walk to the regular meeting place. It was only a few minutes away from the orphanage, in a hidden area near an abandoned home, so it wasn't long before they reached the grassy field._

_Arthur and Francis were already there, fighting, as usual._

_"Hey you guys!" Alfred called out loudly, waving his hand to catch their attention while letting go of Matthew. The two stopped yelling at each other and turned towards them. _

_"It took you long enough." Arthur said with a frown, his eyebrows crunching together in disapproval, and Alfred nearly couldn't stop himself from giggling from how silly he looked._

_"Mathieu! I was worried your brother had done something to you." Francis walked over to Matthew, who shook his head in embarrassment._

_"Don't cover up for that idiot. He must have done something for you guys to take so long." Arthur said, getting Alfred slightly irritated even though he knew his friend didn't really mean it. _

_Hey!" Alfred jumped to his defense, "We didn't come 'cause someone was trying to adopt me again!" _

_Arthur's previously annoyed facade dropped as a genuine look of worry overtook it. _

_"What?" Alfred was almost surprised by how fast his friend's face changed, though he knew why. If Alfred (or Matthew for that matter) were adopted there was a good chance the four of them wouldn't be able to meet up anymore._

_"Don't worry, I made sure they wouldn't want me." Alfred reassured him, "I knew you wouldn't be able to live without the awesome me."_

_Arthur's face returned to it's usual scowl (though Alfred wondered if his words hit a cord as his friend's cheeks went slightly red). "As if. Though I highly doubt you need to do anything extra to make people not want you. You're annoying enough as it is."_

_Alfred just laughed at that, with Francis and even Matthew joining in before they began to talk again._

_These times were the highlights of his day, though Alfred would probably never admit it (and he didn't think Francis or Arthur ever would either). The four of them had met and been friends for as long as Alfred and Matthew had been at the orphanage. They had met when Alfred had been exploring, looking for something interesting, and ever since then the four had been meeting together at the same place around the same time. Matthew and Alfred didn't know a lot of people at the orphanage where they lived, and even though Francis and Arthur were a bit older then them they were the closest friends they had. _

_Alfred couldn't imagine a day without seeing his friends, and half of him wished he could stay here forever._

_"What do you think Alfred?" Matthew asked in his soft voice, bringing Alfred away from his thoughts._

_"Huh?" _

_"Oh the bugger wasn't even listening." Arthur sighed before Francis explained to him what they were talking about. "My Father was telling me about the new system the government was putting up. Apparently any one can now join them." And Francis chuckled before going on, "Arthur here thinks he can join. Of course they really only mean sophisticated people such as moi." _

_"Oh shut your trap you frog!" Arthur said, turning to Matthew, "They meant everyone. Matthew agrees with me, right?"_

_Before Matthew could even open his mouth Francis spoke for him. "Of course not! Mathieu agrees with me, no?" He walked up to Matthew and placed a possessive hand on his shoulder._

_"Don't grab him like that you bloody pervert!"_

_"I'm hardly touching him! What, are you jealous?"_

_The two began yelling at each other again, all the while Matthew simply muttered, "I can talk for myself, eh…"_

_After Alfred got bored with watching the two fight, he interrupted them to ask a question that had been on his mind since they mentioned the government._

_"So what would the people have to do? The ones in the government."_

_Arthur beat Francis to the punch to answer as they stopped yelling at each other. "Well, they won't all do the same thing," Arthur said, proud that he knew such information, "some will do paper work, others… other stuff, but the best job will of course be to help the people!"_

_"Is that what you want to do?" Alfred asked, and Arthur's face looked embarrassed before he nodded. "Yes," he said, "I want to help people."_

_"Like a hero?" Alfred remembered reading comic books that had been left in the orphanage that were about people called heroes who ran around helping those in need. _

_"…yes. Like a hero I suppose." Arthur said, looking pink (again. Sometimes Alfred wondered if it was just sunburn). _

_"Cool!" Alfred really liked heroes and, since he like Arthur, he thought the combination would be good. "I wanna be a hero too then!" He said with conviction. At that time he couldn't think of anything more fun then working with Arthur to protect people._

_"You two are crazy." Francis said bluntly, slightly curbing the two boys enthusiasm. But despite his discouragement, after that day, they would often talk of a future where they would work together. In their minds everything would be perfect._

_But things changed when they were older._

"Hello? Am I in the right place?"A voice brought Alfred out of his memories as a man entered the room.

"Oh! Sorry, I was-" Alfred stopped mid-sentence in a sympathy cringe "…ouch."

The man had definitely had it rough in the past few days. There were bandages over almost every part of his body and he seemed to have trouble walking. But his brown eyes seemed bright, even with the dark purple bruises that had formed under them. Alfred could see a white band around his wrist and briefly wondered if he had been recently released from the hospital.

"What happened?" Alfred knew it was probably rude to ask, but he was gonna be asking questions anyways so he figured he might as well.

"Oh? This? I've had worse." The man smiled. "So you're the man who's going to be questioning me?" He asked while he sat down in the chair across from him.

"Yup! So let's get started. What's your name and what were you doing on the train?" Alfred didn't want to wait to start so he headed straight into the interrogation.

"Antonio. I was trying to get home…"

"Oh, you live here?" Alfred didn't like being totally strict, rather preferring to treat those he questioned as if he were talking with them regularly.

Antonio seemed to be a little hesitant to answer the question but eventually nodded.

"Cool. So… as I said earlier, how exactly did you get injured like that?"

The man seemed to think for a moment before answering. "Well, Ivan- uh… the main leader of the gang that robbed the train got a hold of me."

"Ouch." Alfred had heard rumors of how big the gang leader was and this guy didn't look quite big enough to stand a chance against him. But he hadn't head of any of the other passengers being beaten. Why this guy?

"So why did he beat you? Any particular reason?"

"Um…" Antonio looked like he was thinking hard and a few seconds passed before he answered. "I… did something bad to him. He was following me on the train, looking for me, so he could punish me."

That was interesting. So this guy was basically the reason for the heist? Well that had to suck.

"What did you do?" Alfred asked but quickly took it back when he saw the man's face. "You don't have to answer if it's too personal." He was sure that it wouldn't help to know now, and it looked like it upset the guy. Arthur would've yelled at him for not doing his job "properly" but he didn't want to make Antonio feel uncomfortable.

There were a few awkward moments of silence while Alfred tried to think of another question. Just when he was about to ask, he heard Antonio speak up.

"I didn't do a job I was supposed to do for him, so he got made at me. Ivan, I mean." Antonio gave a weak laugh before going on, "I thought I could just run away and go back home, but that guy doesn't give up! … It's a good thing you guys came when you did, that no one else got hurt. I would've felt terrible!… though I do know about a few friends of mine who... I mean, I hope they're alright!" Antonio seemed to get worried for a bit before calming down. "Oh, they're probably fine. I bet they're with Lovino right now!... Lovi…"

Antonio went silent then, a dazed and dreamy look in his eyes, but Alfred didn't pay much attention. That was a lot of information to absorb just then, and something was bothering him.

"So wait… back it up there. You did a job for Ivan? But he's a criminal. Did you do something illegal?"

Antonio's face went white as he realized what he had said. "Of course not! I was… uh… a gardener?"

This guy was really bad at lying.

"Look, I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to report you if you've done anything illegal or-"

"Wait!" Antonio interrupted, "Yes, it's true… I was- I did some things that were not right. But I swear to you that I've changed. I'm no longer Spain! I put all of that behind me."

Alfred would have made a comment about how similar that declaration was to countless of other criminals', but he became instantly distracted by who Antonio claimed to be.

"Wait, YOU are Spain? As in the thief?" Even Alfred had heard about the child thief when he was younger and living in the orphanage. But he had thought that Spain had been caught and sent to jail… so did he break out along with Ivan and the group? That would maybe explain his connection with the gang leader.

Antonio seemed to only just realize then what he had revealed as his face fell into one of horror before his head fell into his hands. "Oh no… now I'll never get home. Lovino will kill me."

He felt bad for Antonio, he really did. The guy LOOKED sincere, but he was a criminal. And you just couldn't trust criminals. Maybe if he could get Antonio talking some more he could find out if he was telling the truth or not.

"Who's Lovino? You've mentioned him a couple times now." He was genuinely curious, maybe it was another thief? Either way, the more information he could find out, the better.

Antonio looked slightly relieved to talk about something else, though his face looked confused. "Lovi? You want to talk about Lovino?"

Alfred nodded before adding, "Is he another criminal? Or family of some sort? We may have to know if we have to contact someone of your arrest."

Antonio seemed to ignore the comment about his possible arrest as his face lit up. "No no, Lovi is no criminal! He is my light! He is just the cutest thing! Though he swears a lot and gets mad at me and says he hates me a lot I'm sure he really does care! He's the one who wanted me to give up being a thief, and he's probably really worried about me now. I haven't gotten a chance to call him or anything since I came here… they've just been keeping me in the hospital until now…. I was hoping to go home after this," Antonio's face went slightly somber, now knowing that it may not be possible to go home, "I was going to surprise him, have us move to the country together. I haven't seen him for months…"

Alfred frowned at this. He really did seem to be telling the truth, and the way the man had tried to lie earlier (and failed terribly) only further suggested that he was being truthful this time. And this Lovino reminded him a lot of Arthur in some way, and he felt himself feel even more sympathy for Antonio.

"Well… I guess if you've really changed, and no one seems to have realized who you are, I _could_ just let you go."

"Really? You would do that for me?" Antonio looked up in surprise.

Some people might think he was being naive and idiotic for letting someone who he knew was a famous thief go, he knew Arthur would, but the way Alfred looked at it, there was no harm in it if Antonio had really reformed (and Alfred really believed he did). And what type of hero would he be if he imprisoned someone who had reformed? But there was a catch.

"Sure! It's the heroic thing to do! But you have to do something for me." Antonio nodded in agreement, eager to be able to return home.

"You have to tell me all you know about Ivan and his gang. You must have had learned some things after having worked with him right? It would help us in figuring out what to do with them, and my boss would be super happy with me if I can give him any info. I'll just tell everyone that I collected the information from a bunch of different witnesses."

Antonio easily agreed, and soon Alfred was writing down a bunch of notes as Antonio began to tell him all he knew. After he had told him all he needed to know, he let Antonio leave (which he did, as quickly as he could with his injuries) and waited for the next person he would question.

All the other people he interviewed after Antonio were pretty normal. Anything he learned where things that backed up Antonio's claims. Although Alfred was having fun talking to all these people, he sometimes wondered if Arthur was doing alright. Did anyone else claiming to be the princess come in? He knew he probably shouldn't worry too much, Arthur could take care of himself. Well, at least that was what Arthur had told him but, then again, maybe he had been lying to him. Alfred never knew what his friend was thinking nowadays. Or if Arthur even considered him his friend anymore.

Sometimes Alfred wondered if they would ever be as close as they were when they were kids. He didn't really understand what had happened to them, though he wondered if it was just the time that they had spent apart that had caused the change. Or maybe Arthur still hadn't gotten over that fight from so long ago? He still remembered that day, when so much had changed for him in such a short time.

_He had arrived at the regular meeting place alone. Alfred was slightly glad to see that only Arthur was there to meet him, seeing as Matthew had wanted to tell Francis himself and Alfred didn't think he could hold the secret in for long._

_"The bloody frog is sick today, or so he told me." Arthur said, his smile being short lived as he got a closer look at his friend. "Are you okay?"_

_Alfred guessed his face was betraying him. He didn't know what to think, there were so many emotions going on inside him at once. That was it. He couldn't hold it in any longer._

_"Matthew is getting adopted." The words tumbled out of his mouth clumsily, he was still just so shocked. He just never expected it to happen. The workers hardly ever picked Matthew to be interviewed for adoption, most of the times Alfred wondered if they ever even saw him. But the one time they did, Matthew was immediately chosen. That wasn't really a surprise Alfred guessed, his brother was very mild-mannered and kind, and most couples would probably love to have him as a kid._

_It was just- Alfred had always thought that they would be at the orphanage forever. He never thought that Matthew would be the one to leave. Now Alfred didn't know what to do. What was he **supposed **to do?_

_"Don't cry!" Arthur said, unsure what to do in this situation. Alfred hadn't realized he was crying, but he supposed that was why his cheeks felt wet. "It's okay… you guys can still talk to each other, right?" Arthur had taken him in an awkward hug at some point, Alfred hadn't noticed at first, but he was now grateful and returned the hug. "Yeah." Alfred sniffed into his friend's shoulder. "But I thought we were all gonna stay together forever. And I don't want to stay at the orphanage by myself. And…" Sure, there were a lot of kids at the orphanage, but Alfred didn't really know any of them, and he couldn't always hang out with Arthur and Francis. They had families of their own. _

_And he still had to tell Arthur something._

_But for a while Alfred just stayed there, crying into Arthur's shoulder. Even though Alfred still felt terrible, he had to admit that the hug felt…nice. It was a while before any of them spoke._

_"Uh, look-" Arthur began, letting go of Alfred, "-um, the thing is… I've been talking to my parents...and they said they might be interested in adopting you." _

_"Huh? What do you mean?" _

_"My parents might want to adopt you. You could be my brother." Arthur elaborated, turning away his face and refusing to look Alfred in the eye._

_Be Arthur's brother? But Arthur was his friend, and Matthew was already his brother. _

_But it sounded appealing, being able to live with Arthur and see and talk to him all day. But then again, it also felt wrong somehow to think of Arthur as being related to him. And Matthew needed him._

_He had still not told Arthur yet._

_"They said they could adopt me too. The people who are taking Matthew." _

_"Oh." Arthur said in surprise, "Oh… But you don't have to. You can stay with me. Right?"_

_He loved Arthur, he really did, but he didn't care for him like Matthew. It was…different some how. He didn't know how to describe it, but he just knew that the desperate way Arthur was looking at him scared him._

_"I- I don't know." Alfred said honestly, "I… don't want to be your brother."_

_"Oh." Arthur said again, this time in a nearly angry tone. "I suppose it was stupid of me to ask I guess."_

_Arthur was upset now, and Alfred tried to fix the awkward pause between them the only way he knew how, by trying to make light of the situation. "Well, it would be weird living with you wouldn't it?" he said, giving a weak laugh, "And I'm not sure if I would want to join your family if I meant I would have to have those stupid eyebrows."_

_Alfred knew he went to far with the joke though, when Arthur went rigid. "Well fine. Go ahead. Leave. See if me and my **stupid** eyebrows care." He walked away, leaving Alfred alone._

_The day after that both Alfred and Matthew were adopted by the couple who lived in Amerigo, a city miles away from both the orphanage and Arthur and Francis. They lived with the couple, who they grew to love as their own parents, and in the city until they were both old enough to move away and live their own lives.  
_

_Even though they moved far away from their friends, they still tried to stay in contact. They exchanged addresses with both Francis and Arthur. _

_But all the letters Alfred exchanged with Arthur were short, the two of them never talking like they once did. Soon they stopped sending letter all together. Only Francis and Matthew continued to stay in touch over the years, and the two would find out information through the other two. _

It was years later when he finally saw Arthur again. Alfred had never forgotten how it was always Arthur's dream to work for the government and help people, and he remembered their plans to work together. It was that dream that led him to work here.

Alfred remembered being overjoyed to learn that Arthur was working there too, along with Francis. But any attempts to make real conversation with him were ill-fated, and it wasn't until Alfred had begged Yao to let him in on Arthur's project that their relationship had gotten better.

Alfred just wished he could be closer to Arthur, and that his old friend wouldn't be so stingy and temperamental all the time.

"Excuse me sir?" Alfred had forgotten that he was interviewing the last of the citizens when he had zoned out.

"I'm sorry, I sorta have a lot on my mind. I wasn't paying attention, what was your name again?" The woman in front of him gave him a patient and understanding look. She was older then him, but he could still tell that she was beautiful, with her warm brown eyes and curly hair tied into a loose bun.

"It's Greece."

"Wow! A royal name?! Were you part of the Royal Family or something?" Alfred exclaimed, genuinely surprised.

The woman shook her head, "My family, a long time ago, was once royal. But by the time I was born my family was working for the other nobles. I was merely a servant there, but I worked directly for King Rome."

"Really? Hey, I know this is off-topic, but could you tell me about some of what you know about the Runaway Princess? You see, I'm part of the project that's offering money if she reveals herself."

"I was actually the personal servant to Italy." She said, smiling sadly "I do miss the child, though I have my own son to take care of."

"Awesome! Not the missing part but the you knew her part. Can you tell me anything about her? Like how she looks like? Or do you have a picture? It would help in our search process." Alfred was excited know, what a stroke of luck!

"I would be glad to help you. But, I highly doubt it will help… Italy will not come to you."

"Uh…okay? Well to tell the truth, I actually want to use the information to prove that people pretending to be the princess are lying. 'Cause, you see, if the princess doesn't show up then we can put all her inheritance money into fixing buildings such as the orphanage and food factories all around the country."

Greece smiled at this. "That sounds very good. I'm sure Italy would agree with using the money like that."

Soon Alfred had a description, both of looks and personality. Straight brown hair (with one wayward curl) and brown eyes, a cheerful attitude, she was a painter, liked pasta and most other things in general. He even learned how her brother acted.

"And there is something else, something that will most definitely help." Greece began, "As the personal servant to Italy I knew something only those closest to the royal family knew."

Oooh, this sounded good. "What?" Alfred asked, never expecting what would come next.

"King Rome did not have a daughter." Confusion was clear on Alfred's face before Greece explained, "Rome was an eccentric man, I never quite understood why he did the things he did. But there was a tradition, one that he had never spoken of before-which sometimes makes me think he might have made it up, that when there were a set of twins born of the same gender one of the twins would their first five years as the opposite gender."

"Wait wait, hold up. Are you telling me that the princess was a _boy_?!" Now that was unbelievable. "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Italy was a boy. I was the one who changed his diapers. In fact, the large party that was held at the Fall was supposed to be where Rome was going to reveal to everyone his true gender."

This was seriously unbelievable. If this was true, then _none _of the girls claiming to be the princess could possibly be the princess (or prince, it turns out). This was GREAT! They would have the money to use for the country in no time!

He said goodbye to Greece, who promised she would return to bring some artifacts not only to prove she was telling the truth but to help in the case (including a picture she had, Score!).

Alfred nearly ran out of headquarters (quickly dropping off some of the information he had learned in Yao's office), running as fast as his legs could take him towards the Archives.

"Arthur!" He yelled out as soon as he entered into their work room.

"You idiot! Why did you kick down the door _again_!? Calm down!" Arthur was still in the place he left him, sitting over his desk and doing more paper work.

"You'll never guess what I found out!"

* * *

**Arthur's Note: **I didn't mention this cause I didn't know where to put it, but in the second flashback everyone is a little older. About pre-teens for Alfred and Matthew and teenager age for Francis and Arthur.

Yup! There's Chapter eight! Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but it was necassary to find out what happened to Antonio and to set up some things in the next chapter which, by the way you guys you already know this but I can't help saying it, is the LAST CHAPTER!

WOOT! Yet I feel like crying at the same time. Now, believe me when I say this, is going to be SUPER LONG. So long in fact, I might split it in two (but upload at the same time). But because of that, it's going to take a while. I've been incredibly busy lately, and it's been getting harder and harder to put away time solely for writing this piece. Not that I don't love writing it! I'll love this story, and I'm absolutely stoked to have it ending! And I'm hoping you guys will like some of the awesome things that will be happening! 

Now, I have to say, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted, and read this story. It makes me feel so happy to know that people are enjoying this. I love you all! ;__;

Is that too creepy? XD**  
**


	9. Chapter 9

I am SOO sorry you guys! THREE months? You now have permission to kill me.

But there ARE a couple of reasons why its so late... the biggest one being this huge thing that I've been doing for the past two months. It's a long story but, basically, I wrote this play for this contest when I was writing chapter 8 (part of the reason it was late then), and I won! So it was produced! And I was made director and took these long classes to learn all about the theatre stuff and had control over everything. AND I also had be there for every rehearsal and performance. This was a good thing for me, but not so much for the story.

So between casting actors, blocking, rewriting play, working with backstage people, working out the stage decorations and props, being director, AND being an actor in another chosen play (and having to be there for all of IT'S rehearsals and performances), I had barely any time to work on this (even though I tried to keep writing it, some days even only getting in 10-100 words a day ;_;).

But ANYWAYS. That recently finished, and I am (more or less) free to write again!

And I'm also a huge liar. This is NOT the last chapter! But rather, the second to last chapter! And even though it's not the last chapter (again, sooorrrryyy!) it's still longer then usual. Hopefully it will make up for it? Probably not _

Oh well, hope you enjoy!

* * *

"List the members of the Royal Family's inner circle."

Feliciano whined tiredly as he laid down on the cool grass. "Ve… Ludwig, I can't remember all these names!"

They had been traveling towards Central City for over a week now, occasionally stopping in towns so that Matthew could sell his merchandise. After all, he still had to do his work.

Matthew had taken his caravan over the closest town, which was about a fifteen minute walk away from where they were resting. Francis and Gilbert, who Matthew had quickly found out were both very good salesman (Gilbert being a conman, and Francis just being very persuasive), had gone with him to help out. With their three companions gone, Feliciano and Ludwig were left alone.

Feliciano had wasted no time in dragging Ludwig to rest under the shade of a nearby tree. He had been hoping they would take a break from studying (for once), but was quickly disappointed. Ludwig was all about work.

"I know you're tired. But we have to make sure you'll be ready in time." Ludwig said as Feliciano gave another dissatisfied sigh.

Feliciano knew he was supposed to try and learn all this information to help Ludwig and the others. And he didn't mind that, not really. But he had been hoping that they could take a short break from all the princess stuff. He just couldn't seem to remember anything, no matter how hard Ludwig and Francis tried to teach him! And not to mention, even though they were comfortable, he was getting sick of wearing the dresses that Matthew had lent him (Matthew still believed, after all, that Feliciano was actually Felicia).

The whole situation wouldn't be so bad if Ludwig hadn't been avoiding him.

It wasn't like Ludwig wasn't talking to him or anything. In fact, the past two weeks or so had been really fun! They had been talking a lot more then usual, and not only things about the princess and stuff- but having real conversations. Though Feliciano had been doing most of the talking, to tell the truth, but at least Ludwig was listening! And sometimes, on rare occasions when Feliciano had run out of things to say, Ludwig would tell him a little bit about himself.

However, there were times- randomly it seemed- where Ludwig would get this weird expression on his face. And he would refuse to look at him! Well, maybe avoiding wasn't the best word for it…

But whatever it was, Ludwig was doing it right now! He wasn't looking him in the eyes anymore, and his face looked unfocused and far away. What had he done wrong? Was it because he couldn't remember all this stuff? He was trying! He really was! But none of it seemed to stick…

Maybe it was something else he had done? Feliciano tried to remember anything he might have done to offend the man, like having overcooked the pasta or stepped on his toes. But he couldn't think of anything.

Feliciano really wanted Ludwig to like him. Ludwig was the first kind person he had met after leaving his home with Elizaveta and Roderich. Ludwig had picked him off of the street, fed him, and given him a chance to find his brother! There was also something about Ludwig, how he was so quiet and always ready to listen and help, and something else that just… well he just felt happier around him.

He had thought Ludwig liked him too. Back during the night when Feliciano had woken up with that nightmare, Ludwig had held him and told him that everything would be alright. Feliciano had never felt so safe, and he had thought that Ludwig liked him too. Was he wrong though?

"Are you mad at me?" Feliciano asked worriedly, looking up at Ludwig.

The other man's face looked slightly surprised in response, and Feliciano immediately jumped into a string of apologies. "Ve! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Did I eat your food? I'm sorry! I didn't know it was yours, I swear! Is it the hugging? Roderich says I should mind people's personal space but I don't know what that really means and I've never had a problem with touching people and I thought that-" Feliciano's hands made nervous and erratic movements in front of him as he tried to apologize for whatever he had done to offend the other man.

"What? I'm not mad at you." Ludwig said, interrupting the rant.

"Really?" Feliciano asked hopefully, "So you don't hate me?"

Ludwig's face had a weird expression on it (for someone who was usually so stoic, he sure made a lot of strange faces!), and Feliciano was suddenly afraid that he didn't want to hear the answer.

However before Ludwig could say anything on the matter, Gilbert called towards them from a few feet away. Was it time to start moving again? But neither Francis nor Matthew was behind the albino. Something must have happened! Why else would Gilbert to walk all the way from the town to where they were waiting? It would have to be really important, for (the still-injured) Gilbert to make such a trip.

"West! I need to talk to you!" Gilbert's voice sounded urgent and, although he seemed irritated by his brother's interruption, Ludwig got up to talk to him.

"Try to work on memorizing the names, I'll be back soon." Ludwig said to him before joining his brother. Together they walked to a place far enough so that Feliciano could not hear them. He sighed, wishing that they would trust him more. He could help them! Well, more then he was already (and with things that didn't involve cross-dressing).

But the best way to help Ludwig right now was to try and memorize the information about the princess! But that was so **hard**… It felt like he had tried everything! Flash cards, Rhyming, and other methods to try to remember the information had ended in vain…

Maybe he needed a break. Feliciano glanced to Ludwig's notebook and pencil (which he used to keep track of all the information he was supposed to be memorizing) that had been left behind when he went to talk to Gilbert.

That was it! Drawing would help him relax a bit! He hadn't sketched anything in so long… it felt like he was suffering from withdrawal! And maybe when he was more relaxed, he could remember the stuff better!

But Ludwig might get mad at him if he caught him drawing instead of working. Then it suddenly hit him. He could compromise! He would draw things about the princess! He was trying to remember the names of all the royal people, so attaching faces to the names might help him! That way he was working, in a way. Right? Well, he was going to do it anyways!

With new-found enthusiasm Feliciano grabbed the pencil and looked at the list of names that Ludwig had written on the paper. The first was the princess', but Feliciano didn't really feel like drawing a younger female version of himself (he was supposed to be the princess, so he would pretend that he looked like her for now).

The next one was that of Prince Romano. That was the princess' brother, right? Feliciano liked that name. He would start with that, and continue down the list!

He barely had to think about what he would draw before the lines started to appear on the paper. It wasn't long before Feliciano stopped thinking about he was doing, and simply sketched as his mind wandered off.

It was strange… After drawing the first few head sketches, Feliciano no longer needed to look at the list of names. He simply drew as more and more faces appeared in his mind's eye. Each of them appeared slowly but, as he began tracing their basic shapes, they soon came into focus in vivid detail. It was like he was drawing scenes from a dream, one that he had forgotten long ago.

"Feliciano?" Ludwig's voice broke through his trance, and Feliciano was suddenly aware that an hour had passed. Set before him, stretched across the white sheets of the notebook, were dozen upon dozen of sketched faces.

"Ve…?" He must have gotten carried away! There weren't that many names on the list! Oh well, that was the fun of drawing! It was so easy to get carried away.

"Gilbert brought over some news." Ludwig said, and Feliciano collected up the multiple drawings to show him later. "It turns out that.. uh..." Ludwig continued, pausing a bit before Gilbert came up behind him.

"Francis spilled the beans!" He said, sounding slightly irritated.

"Huh?" Feliciano asked before Ludwig explained further.

"He apparently told Matthew about what we were planning. He knows-"

"Everything! The scheme, West's old job, Spain, YOU, everything!" Gilbert interrupted again, throwing his hands in the air.

It suddenly hit him. "Ve! You mean Matthew knows I'm a boy?" He wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing. Though he still didn't see why Gilbert was so worked up.

"Yeah! He'll probably blackmail us for part of the money…this is so _un_awesome." Gilbert started to grumble, clearly upset of the thought of having to split of the money even more.

"It's too late now to think of that. Matthew hasn't asked for anything yet, and Francis seems to trust him. We can't worry about that now." Ludwig said to his brother, before turning to Feliciano.

"I think this is a good thing. It was getting difficult hiding your gender-" and Ludwig was right, there had been a few close calls (including times involving bathroom breaks in the woods. He could have sworn that there was nobody there!) and it would be nice not having to worry about it anymore. "-and the fact that we were able to hide it so long is promising for when we have to convince the government."

"So does that mean I don't have to wear the dress anymore?" Feliciano asked hopefully. He jumped happily into the air when Ludwig gave a nod (coupled with a small smile).

Feliciano had been willing to wear the dress (it really wasn't that bad), but it would be nice to wear his regular clothes again!

"But you'll have to put them back on again when we reach Central City." Ludwig said, with Gilbert adding, "We can't have people seeing you as a boy before you show up as the princess!"

"And when we stay over at Spa- Antonio's house-" Gilbert stopped, giving Ludwig a meaningful glance before continuing. "Well, you were a girl the last time he saw you. I love the man, but the money is being split up enough already!"

Feliciano wondered if Gilbert's glance was about whatever they talked about before telling him all these things. It probably had to do with how they had left Antonio…Feliciano knew they didn't want him to think the worst had happened. But even if they had their doubt, Feliciano was sure that Antonio was okay! He had to be!

"Okay." Feliciano said, he was fine with wearing the dress in Central City. He didn't mind, not really, he just needed a break once in a while. Which he would now have!

After all of this was decided, almost like clockwork, Matthew and Francis arrived in the caravan.

Feliciano didn't see why Gilbert had been so upset. He thought it was sweet that Francis was willing to let Matthew in on their secret, and Feliciano liked him. He sometimes forgot he was there, and he was kind of quiet, but Matthew was always very nice to him. He didn't seem like the type to blackmail them.

Matthew didn't wait long to give him new clothes (now with pants!), and "Felicia" turned back into plain old Feliciano. And with that the group continued traveling, now heading nonstop towards Central City.

Although the caravan was large, and both Matthew and Francis were outside guiding the horses (well, Matthew was guiding the horses, Francis was mostly there to keep the other company), it was still slightly crowded inside. The main reason, of course, was that Gilbert was taking up most of the space in his sleep. Feliciano wondered whether that was because he needed room to be comfortable, because of his bruised ribs, or if that was just the way he usually slept.

Either way, Feliciano sat close to Ludwig as the bumpy ride carrying them into Central City moved on. He was comfortable, letting his head slowly droop unto Ludwig's shoulder as he drifted off into sleep. Feliciano had barely had any time for his daily naps, what with all of the studying he had been doing lately. At least now he would have some time to finally rest.

Or so he thought.

As Ludwig took out his work notebook, Feliciano began to think of any argument he could use to stop them from studying _again._ It was time to sleep already!

But Feliciano never had to voice objections, as Ludwig's plans to review came to halt when he found the sketches from this afternoon inside the book.

"What are these?" Ludwig asked, gently picking up a few of the drawings. Feliciano had already forgotten about them, but he was pleasantly surprised to see them again. Especially if he could use them to show Ludwig that he didn't need to study as much.

"I tried drawing the royal people!" Feliciano said cheerfully, feeling much more relaxed and settled. "Do you like them?"

"They're very nice. But I don't see how this helps-" Ludwig suddenly stopped as he came upon one of the many papers.

"I thought it would help me memorize the names! I'm better with faces then names, and sometimes when I draw its easier for me to remember!" Feliciano said, before realizing that Ludwig had stopped talking. He was staring at one of his sketches.

Did he draw something wrong? He couldn't remember any of them looking weird before, but maybe he had simply missed a few mistakes earlier.

Feliciano, hoping he could explain away any error in the sketch (not wanting to damage his reputation as an artist), looked over Ludwig's shoulder to see what he was looking at.

It was a sketch of one of the noble families that were especially close to the Royal Family. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with the picture that Feliciano could see. Though when he looked closer, there** was** something about the picture that seemed….Feliciano wasn't quite sure. Maybe he would have to redraw that one.

"Who is this supposed to be?" Ludwig's voice was slow and concentrated as he pointed to a picture with three head sketches.

"Ve~ That one over there" Feliciano pointed to the brooding man with long hair that took up the left space of the paper, "is… umm… Germania!" Feliciano nearly shouted in delight. The drawing worked!

"And the one in the middle is…ah… Prussia!" He pointed to the young rowdy-looking boy who took up the center of the page before moving on to the last sketch. It was of a boy who couldn't have been more then five. "And that one over there is Germany!" The boy had a sweet face and shy eyes that seemed very endearing and sincere. It was definitely Feliciano's favorite sketch.

He was about to say so when he looked back at Ludwig. His eyes were glued to the paper, and his face had lost some of its usual color.

"Are you okay?" Feliciano asked instead, slightly worried about the sudden change in his friend.

Ludwig stared at the paper for a few moments before looking up at Feliciano. "Do you mind if I keep this?" He asked, now focused entirely on Feliciano. There was something about his voice that bothered him, but he quickly shook the feeling away.

"Sure!" Although it was his favorite sketch so far, if Ludwig wanted it he was willing to give it away. That meant that Ludwig must have really liked it, right?

"Thank you." Ludwig mumbled as he folded the paper precisely and tucked it away in his coat pocket.

"I mostly made up the faces for all the different families and stuff. But for the Royal Family, well, I thought they were supposed to kinda look like me since I'm supposed to be pretending to be the princess and all." Feliciano said excitingly as he showed Ludwig more of the sketches he had done that afternoon, before stopping to show him the sketches he had done of the Royal Family themselves.

"See, I think I made King Rome a little too big-but I think it's okay since he was supposed to be really macho, right? I think so. But anyways, I really like the drawing I did of Prince Romano. I made him look just like me! Well, I mean me as in what I regularly look like. Not how I look like when I'm dressed up like the princess, because the prince is a boy and he probably wouldn't be wearing a dress unless he really wanted to and I doubt he would-"

"He's frowning." Ludwig said, cutting off Feliciano's rambling while pointing towards the sketch of the prince. "Not that I'm saying that's bad…it's just I don't think I've ever seen you look so angry like that."

It didn't sound like a criticism, but rather like he was just stating a fact.

Which he was, as Feliciano found out when he looked at the sketch again. The sketch of Prince Romano looked identical to him, except for the fact that there was an uncharacteristic scowl on his look-a-like's face.

Well, now that he was looking closer, the sketch wasn't actually _identical._ His stray curl was on the other side (and upside down?)… though that was only a small detail.

"Ve~ You're right." Feliciano said, looking back at Ludwig. "I guess I just wanted him to look different from me. If only a little." Ludwig nodded, understanding.

"I wonder if that's what my brother looks like." Feliciano suddenly thought out loud.

"What do you remember about him? Your brother, that is." Ludwig asked, and Feliciano felt warmed by the genuine curiosity that he heard in his voice.

"Well… I remember that he looked a lot like me. Though he might have been older. He was the one who took care of me, and I was really young when we got separated…"

Feliciano paused in thought, trying to rack his brain for any more memories.

"I don't remember much. But what I do remember is that it was just the two of us, and that I was really cold and hungry. We stayed in this really crowded place for a while… I don't think we had a place to stay. There was a lot of yelling, and panicking…I think- I think it was after that "Fall" thing that Tino talked about." Feliciano had only heard about such an event recently from the innkeepers they had stayed with, before he hadn't known what all the panic and commotion from back then had been about.

"But my brother would protect me, and hid us away from all the people and the Child Police."

The Child Police were well known by anyone who had grown up in Central City, especially after the Fall. They were officers that looked for children in the streets, and were the main reason why the orphanage that Feliciano had lived in was always filled with too many kids. "Somehow, I got separated from my brother, and the officers found me. They took me to the orphanage, and that's how I met Roderich and Elizaveta."

"I'm sorry." Ludwig said, and it really sounded like he was.

Feliciano didn't understand why he would be, he knew that Ludwig hadn't necessarily lived life easily either. On one of the rare occasions that Ludwig would talk about himself, he had let loose that he and his brother had had a rough time. They had even lived without a home for a long time, until he and Gilbert had been able to raise enough money to rent a place (Ludwig had raised the money from the multiple jobs he took, and Gilbert had got it from his successful cons).

"Don't be sorry! I love Roderich and Elizaveta… I wouldn't have ever met them if I hadn't gone to the orphanage. And my brother… I've always been sure that he's happy wherever he is! And when I find him, we'll all be one happy family!"

Ludwig gave him a small smile. "I'll help you in any way I can then. I'm sure we can find something on your brother in the Archives."

"Thanks Ludwig!" Feliciano hugged him thankfully, causing the man to blush. He was glad that Ludwig didn't try to push him away anymore (not that he made much of an effort in the first place).

"Ah…you're welcome." Ludwig said, giving him a soft pat on the back (the closest he had ever gotten to returning a hug) before Feliciano let go of him.

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Feliciano took the quiet as an opportunity for a quick nap.

Leaning against Ludwig's shoulder (which he had found out a while ago made an excellent pillow) he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Feliciano felt movement under his head as he slowly awoke and regained consciousness.

"Hmmm" He mumbled as Ludwig moved his shoulder again. Feliciano didn't want to wake up yet and tried to ignore the movement, preferring to return to the nice dream he had been having. There was pasta and his brother, and Elizaveta and Roderich were there too, and even Ludwig and Gilbert and Francis were there… it was so warm and nice and-

"It's time to wake up." Ludwig whispered sleepily (he must have fallen asleep too), interrupting Feliciano's attempt to go back to sleep.

"My friends! We have finally arrived!"

Feliciano opened up his eyes to see Francis waking up everyone in the caravan. "Huh?"

"We are in Central City!" Francis explained as he tried (unsuccessfully) to wake up Gilbert.

"Ve?" Feliciano immediately woke up from his half-asleep state, instantly filled with the excitement of arriving at their destination. "Really?" He asked, making sure he had heard correctly.

"Yes." Feliciano thought he heard someone say something, but figured it was just the wind again.

"_Oui._" Francis answered Feliciano's question before turning to Gilbert, who was still lying face down on the floor of the caravan. "Gilbert, _mon ami_, it is time for us to enter this beautiful city, no?"

Gilbert moaned a bit before he stood up. "Alright alright. I'm up already." He smiled confidently before stating, "It's time to grace this city with my awesome presence!"

Gilbert then jumped out of the caravan, and immediately grunted in pain. Jumping around like that really wasn't helping his bruised ribs.

"Are you alright?" Matthew, who (Feliciano suddenly realized) had been there the whole time, asked. No one else was very concerned.

"He'll be fine." Ludwig said as he exited the caravan, with Feliciano following.

"Don't you worry your little head Mattie, no injury can hold down the awesome me!" Gilbert said, confirming Ludwig's statement. He had obviously gotten over his previous anger (if he ever was really angry) at Matthew, swinging his arm over the man's shoulder to use him as an involuntary support.

"Idiots like you never stay hurt for long." Francis teased, making his friend remove the arm around Matthew. The three began talking, though whether they were arguing or teasing, Feliciano did not know. He had stopped listening to his strange friends, his full attention was instead captivated by the beautiful city.

They were off the side of the road, in the heart of the busy capital. Everything was just so… so big! The city struck a chord within Feliciano, and he remembered how he had spent so much of his life here.

He had grown up here… in the orphanage and even before that, when he was still with his brother. And speaking of his brother… his brother could be in this city right at this moment!

The thought sent a new wave of excitement over him. He was so close! For all he knew, he and his brother were only a few miles apart!

"Are you ready?" Feliciano nearly jumped as a heavy hand was placed on his shoulder. He quickly calmed down though, as he saw that it was Ludwig.

"We gotta head over to Spain's!" Gilbert said, Francis and Matthew walking with him towards the other two (their conversation or whatever it was having ended). "He better remember his promise!" Gilbert said, referring to Antonio's offer to have them stay at his house, before the incident on the train separated them.

"If he is even home…" Francis murmured sadly, gaining a glare from Gilbert. "But let us be hopeful, no?" He restated, giving a small smile.

"Um…Feliciano." It took Feliciano a few moments to figure out that it was Matthew talking. "Here's a couple of dresses you can have…I thought they would look pretty on you…"

That was right! He would have to act as Felicia now that they would be staying at Antonio's house (and for when he actually had to pretend to be the princess, of course). The two dresses that Matthew had given him were beautiful, with warm colors and soft fabric.

"And umm… before I go, I thought I would just say… Good luck, eh." Matthew said. He was very shy for someone who was a merchant (and had to talk to customers).

"Thanks Mattie!" Feliciano hugged the soft-spoken man. "Ve…But why are you leaving?"

Matthew was flustered a bit by the physical contact -though he really shouldn't have been, what with hanging around with Francis and such-.

"Well, I don't really know this Antonio, eh. I wouldn't want to impose."

"Then you'll be staying at a hotel?" Ludwig asked, to which Matthew nodded in confirmation as Feliciano let go of him.

"In case something happens, and you're not able to stay at your friend's house, I'll reserve a couple of rooms for you, eh."

"Oh Mathieu! You are too kind. Though hopefully there will be no need for such a thing, no?" Francis said, going up to embrace his childhood friend before leaving.

The rest of the gang said their goodbyes as they went their separate ways. Matthew headed with his caravan off to the hotel he would be staying at, and the rest of them headed off towards Antonio's house (though not before Feliciano changed into his dress, of course).

They walked the way mostly in silence, nearly all of them worriedly wondering what they would find once they arrived.

After walking like this for a while, Gilbert finally spoke up. "Where is this place supposed to be anyways?"

"Antonio said he lived on the first house on Tienda Street. That's the street we are on now, so we should be getting closer." Francis said, leading them further down the street. "We just have to keep walking till we reach the beginning of the street."

"You mean he didn't give you the house number? We could be walking towards the end of the street instead of the beginning, for all we know." Ludwig said, having a valid point.

"Then will just have to turn around if that's true." Francis sighed.

"Shit. Man, Spain is such an idiot." Gilbert grumbled.

No one wanted to address the fact that they might have to begin using past tense when speaking about Antonio.

"Ve! We reached the end of the street!" Feliciano said, stopping in front of a small two-story house. "Is this it?"

"I hope so." Gilbert said, walking in front of everyone towards the door. "I'm gonna be so pissed if we have to walk again." Everyone gathered behind him as he loudly banged on the door.

And they waited.

The seconds passed by slowly as they waited for whoever was inside to open the door.

"Maybe no one's home…" Feliciano said aloud, grasping at the material of his green dress.

They were just considering leaving when the door finally opened, revealing a very worn-looking Antonio (using crutches, which would explain why he had taken so long to answer).

"Lovi~ You have a key you know- Hey guys!" Antonio's eyes (one obviously a healing black eye) widened in surprise.

Antonio was instantly hit with a million questions, and surrounded by everyone.

"Antonio! You're alive!"

"Dude! What happened to you?"

"Are you alright?"

"What's with the crutches?"

"Haha… it's nice to see you guys! Why don't you come in?" Antonio left the door and walked further into the house, motioning with his head for everyone to follow him.

Antonio's house was not very big, causing all of them to squish together in an effort to get through. But although it was small, Feliciano thought it was very…homey.

They were all able to spread out once they reached (what Feliciano assumed was) the living room. Antonio put down his crunches and sat down slowly on one of the plush chairs. Feliciano sat with Ludwig and Francis on the sole coach, while Gilbert took the remaining plush chair.

"So… what happened? When we last saw you… well, things did not look very promising. Yet, here you are! If not a little worse for wear." Francis started, stating what was on everyone's mind.

"Hehe, I am pretty beat up, aren't I?" Spain laughed, obviously not very concerned with his injuries. "I guess I'll start from the beginning…"

Antonio proceeded to tell them all that had occurred to him since they had parted. Once Natalia had caught him, despite struggling, he was brought before Ivan. He was beaten to an inch of his life, seeing as Ivan did not like people breaking their promises to him (it amazed Feliciano the casualness in which Antonio described this). Luckily, the government (responding to Francis' call) had arrived in time. The train was stopped and Ivan's gang was captured. Antonio was taken to the hospital and fixed up and, after some questioning, was allowed to come home.

"Ve… so you're really alright?" Feliciano, trying his best to make his voice sound feminine, asked.

"Yup!" Antonio said cheerfully. "But what about you guys? How'd jumping off that moving train go for ya?"

"You broke my ribs." Gilbert said, lifting his shirt half way to reveal the bandages wrapped around the injury, smiling while doing so.

"What? I didn't break them!" Antonio defended himself, making Gilbert smile wider. It reminded Feliciano of predator cornering its prey.

"Yes you did! It was _your_ idea to jump! The awesome me demands compensation!" Gilbert laughed, before being playfully scolded by Francis.

"Oh come on now Gilbert, if Antonio hadn't though off jumping off the train, then Ivan would have gotten to you too."

"Relax! I'm just kidding." Gilbert said, though Feliciano wasn't sure if he was. It was always hard to tell with Gilbert.

"I've missed you guys!" Antonio started laughing (Gilbert's disappointed face was kinda funny), causing both Gilbert and Francis to join in.

"Oi, Jerk! You left the damn door open again." A voice Feliciano didn't recognize called from the front door.

"Lovi~ We have guests!" Antonio called out to the voice, whose owner had still not made it to the living room. "That's Lovino~ He lives with me! He was just out grocery shopping, so we'll probably have enough to give you dinner…I've been wanting you guys to meet him for a while. He's just the cutest thing!"

"I swear Antonio, if these are your stupid friends, I _will_ hurt y-"

An awkward silence descended on the room as Lovino made his appearance.

They could hear a pin drop or, more accurately, the sound of Lovino dropping the groceries in surprise. Feliciano stood up, never once looking away from the man in front of him.

Standing across the room was a mirror image of himself.

"Bro...brother?" Feliciano took a few tentative steps forward, not believing the sight in front of him.

The distance between them was closed by Lovino.

"You bastard!" Lovino roughly grabbed Feliciano's shoulders, not looking him in the eye. Feliciano was scared for a second that he would get hit, until he realized Lovino was crying. "I waited for you! You…you never came back! I-I looked... why did you leave me?"

His brother had been looking for him too? He was sure this was his brother. Lovino. He finally knew his name.

"… It's so great to finally see you brother." Feliciano put his arms around Lovino (who had let go of his shoulders, instead clutching at the front material of his chest) in a cautionary hug and, although he flinched, Lovino accepted the gesture.

"So… so cute!" Antonio practically squealed at the reunited siblings, causing Lovino to break the hug.

"Shut up you asshole!" Lovino's face was red, though whether it was in embarrassment or anger, Feliciano couldn't tell.

"Oh…but Lovi! You and your sister look so cute together!" Antonio continued to gush, but Lovino's face had become confused.

"What?" Lovino asked, whipping his head to look back at Feliciano. He paused for a second, just staring at him, before his face dropped. "Why the hell are you wearing a dress?"

"Ve?" Oh yeah… he was still dressed as "Felicia". Oops.

"What are you talking about Lovi? Don't be so mean to your sister!" Antonio said, while Gilbert muttered an "Oh shit."

"You idiot. That's my brother! He's a guy!"

"I'm sorry brother! I did it to help Ludwig!" Feliciano pointed towards Ludwig, who seemed shocked by all this, to say the least. "Francis, Gilbert, and Ludwig are my friends! And they needed help, so I helped them! You see, I'm gonna dress up and pretend to be the princess and help them win some money-"

"Wait, wait." Lovino interrupted him, "You're not talking about THE princess. The runaway princess?"

"Well… yeah." Feliciano said, slightly confused.

"You're kidding me. You're fucking kidding me!"

And then Lovino started laughing.

"Unbelievable! That's fucking hilarious!"

Now Feliciano hadn't been with his brother for long now –less then five minutes in fact– but he was pretty sure that Lovino wasn't the type to laugh like that. Unless he really liked cross-dressing jokes.

"Hey! It's a good plan!" Gilbert spoke up, defending the scam he had come up with. Lovino slowly started laughing as his face took on a more serious tone. There was a moment of silence as Lovino looked at Gilbert, Francis, and Ludwig before turning to look at Feliciano.

"You didn't tell them, did you?"

Feliciano was getting really confused. "Huh?"

"…Do you even remember?" Lovino was looking at him, expecting something.

"Wait. You mean Felicia is a guy?" Antonio asked, only now getting it. "Why'd you guys lie to me?"

"Our apologizes Antonio, it was all business. You know how it is." Francis brushed off the comment, and Antonio nodded. Feliciano supposed that they were used to not letting each other know all of their secrets.

"Look, Lovino, its great and all that you and Feliciano-"

"That's not my name." Lovino cut off Gilbert, his voice steady. It was the closest Feliciano had heard his brother to being calm since he had reunited with him. "And his name isn't Feliciano either."

"Lovino, are you feeling alright?" Feliciano was worried. Of course his name was Feliciano! What else would it be? He was Feliciano. He always was and he always would be…

But then why, in a small part of his mind, did he feel as if Lovino was right?

"I told you. Lovino isn't my name! Well… now it is. But it wasn't always." Lovino –or whatever he was calling himself- said, starting to get more irritated. "Do you get it now?"

He was met with blank stares.

"Ugh! I'm going to have to explain all of it, aren't I? You're all idiots." Lovino gave a disgruntled snort.

"I'm not an idiot, Lovi!" Antonio gave a cheery shout.

"You're especially an idiot." Lovino retorted. "Now get out of that damn chair. I'm fucking tired of standing."

"Oh, but you can sit on my lap~" Antonio said, earning a rough hit to his shoulder before moving to sit on the ground at the foot of the chair. Lovino glared at him, probably mad that he hadn't sat farther away, before sitting down. Feliciano, following his newfound brother's example, took back his seat next to Ludwig on the couch.

Ludwig, having been silent for most of the previous events, spoke up before Lovino could begin speaking. "Wait. I'm sorry, but, this is all very confusing. What are you trying to tell us here? So far you've only been suggesting that Feliciano has been hiding something from us. And… I may not have known him for long but, frankly, I don't think Feliciano is the type of person to do that."

Lovino glared at Ludwig. "I didn't say that my brother was lying, asshole. It's not my fault he doesn't remember. You even have him dressed up as the princess, and he still doesn't get it!"

"Get _what_, exactly?" Francis asked, slightly exasperated and wanting to get to the point.

"That he IS the princess!"

Lovino paused, waiting to see if anyone would interrupt him again, but continued talking when everyone seemed too shocked to speak.

"Yeah, that's right. My name is Romano, and that idiot over there that you have dressed in drag is Italy, not Feliciano. And I would know, seeing as I'M the one who told him to take that name."

"Wait. Are you trying to tell us that the princess was a dude?" Gilbert asked, looking as if he wasn't sure if he believed Lovino (or Romano… Feliciano wasn't sure which anymore).

"What, didn't you hear what I just said? Look, I can't really tell you why Rome did it- the guy was just weird, and I never really understood the reasons he told me. But, as far back as I can remember, Italy was always dressed as a girl. Rome, Italy, a few others, and I knew that he was a boy. But to everyone else, Italy was the "beloved princess". Until the Fall… that's when we had to change. I made sure that Italy knew to only answer to Feliciano, and to wear boy clothes, so that no one would realize who we were. You guys knew how it was… after the Fall, people were still a little crazy. Who knows what they would've done if they found us." Lovino paused, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Back then everyone was pissed at the Royals. But now it's all "Princess this, Princess that". They don't even remember how they burned our house down. How they killed everyone. How they tried to kill _us!_ We were even lucky that we survived that night. The ones who tried to escape with us didn't."

As Lovino –no Romano- spoke, Feliciano could see various images flash through his mind. That was right… there was a fire. He could remember the fire, staring at it while it was so cold. He remembers it being so dark… and was there someone crying? Was that Romano? Or someone else? And then he had to walk for so long...

"Pfft. And now they're trying to make up for it with this stupid contest thing. Giving money to the lost princess? Please, they don't really want to give away all that money. It's probably just a ploy to make everyone feel better. It's such bullshit." Lovino stopped his rant as Antonio placed his hand on his leg in an effort to calm him down (making Feliciano briefly wonder if this wasn't the first time Lovino ranted about this). It seemed to work though, as he didn't push the hand away (preferring instead to pretend he hadn't notice it) and became calmer.

"You guys are trying to take the money right? Go ahead. Hell, maybe if you guys get the money this whole thing will go away. Everyone will finally just forget about us." Lovino sounded tired. He probably had to deal with hearing gossip about the Fall and his past daily, having lived in Central City all his life –where such talk was more common–. He hadn't left like Feliciano did (which made Feliciano begin to wonder if Roderich and Elizaveta had insisted upon leaving because they knew more then he himself did).

"So…Is that it? Does this mean we can just waltz in there and take the money now that we know Feliciano is the real deal?" Gilbert asked, slightly excited at the fact that his con might be much easier to pull off (if it could even be called a con now).

"Ha! As if. Like the government knows the truth. Stupid stuck up bastards. You'll still have to dress Italy as a girl if you want that money." Lovino responded, earning a slight groan of disappointment from Gilbert.

There was a pregnant pause left in the room, no one really sure what to say. Feliciano could think of a thousand questions he wanted to ask his brother–What had he been doing all this time? What did he remember? Was all this really happening? – but he couldn't get any of them out. This whole thing was so confusing.

He was the princess? Or would he be considered a prince? Did it all even matter anymore?

Feliciano had lived most of his life believing that he had belonged to a normal family. Sure, he had guessed that he used to belong to someone of high class (he could still remember fragments of a large house and parties) but he had never imagined that he used to be royalty.

But, little by little, he was beginning to accept it. It wasn't like it really changed anything. He was still Feliciano-it didn't matter if that wasn't the name he was born with, it was the one he had lived with for so long- and knowing that he used to be royal didn't really change his position in life. The Royal Family had their power taking away long ago, there was a new government, and there really wasn't any room for a prince/princess.

Really, the only thing in Feliciano's life that was actually affected by the whole thing was the con they were trying to pull off. Knowing that he was once Italy meant that the money really belonged to him, and that he wasn't helping his friends steal (well, not really). But he did still have to dress in girl's clothes, so even then nothing really changed.

At least he now knew where his brother lived! He had done what he had set out to do, and had even met a bunch of new people! After all this princess stuff was done, he could spend some time with Lovino (Feliciano guessed and hoped that his brother was more used to being called by the name Lovino).

Antonio stood up from the floor and looked at everyone with a sympathetic smile. "Ahh, well, a lot has happened, huh?...I'll make you all some dinner! You still are our guests after all." He said, heading towards the kitchen while picking up the groceries Lovino had dropped when he first came in (which now felt like ages ago).

Francis took Antonio's lead and stood up from the couch. "This has all been very educational but, if you don't mind, I'll just call our little Mathieu to let him know we're alright. Uh-Lovino, could you point me to the nearest phone?"

"Whatever. It's on the table in the hall." Lovino said before getting up to join Antonio in the kitchen, leaving Gilbert, Feliciano, and Ludwig alone in the living room. "I'll go make sure that idiot doesn't burn anything again."

Once Lovino left the room, Gilbert leaned forward slightly in his chair and spoke to Feliciano. "Look, Feli? I'm super glad that you found your brother and all, but, you're still gonna work with us, right? 'Cause even though I'm sure that my awesome self could totally convince the government to give me the money all by my self, Francis and Ludwig here still think we need you. And since you've found your brother and all-"

"Gilbert. Now is not the time." Ludwig interrupted, giving his brother a disapproving look before turning to Feliciano. "Don't listen to him. Are you doing alright? This all came about so suddenly…"

"Ve~ I'm alright Ludwig!" Why wouldn't he be? Wasn't meeting his brother a happy thing? It was part of why he came here after all! "Don't worry Gilbert! I promised you guys I would help, so I should keep my promise, right?"

Gilbert nodded, accepting his answer. "Alright! So you'll be ready to face the government's dogs tomorrow?"

"Ve? It's tomorrow?" He wasn't ready! There was so much he didn't know (or rather, remember)… What if he messed up? And then Ludwig and Gilbert would hate him and his brother wouldn't want to talk to him anymore and the government people would find out and put him in jail and it would horrible because jail doesn't have pasta!

"Calm down. You're ready for this." Ludwig said, seeing Feliciano's panicked expression. "But we can go over the information, if it would make you feel better."

Feliciano nodded, and the next hour or so was spent going over everything they knew about the princess. Even with the new revelation of Feliciano actually having been Princess Italy, he still did not remember much that could help (being about five at the time). Gilbert and Ludwig went over everything they could think of and Francis, after he called Matthew, tried to give advice on how to deal with the agents that would question him –having worked for the government himself not so long ago-.

Even Lovino helped, during the time he came in to check they hadn't broken anything. He told them all he could remember about living in the palace, and how his brother had acted when he was the princess (which wasn't really that different from how he usually acted, it turned out).

By the time Antonio called saying that dinner was ready, Feliciano thought that his head would burst with all the information. Hopefully it would be enough for tomorrow.

But all of his worries fell aside when he got a taste of Antonio's food. It was good! Nothing compared to his pasta of course, but still very tasty! Especially considering how rarely he had gotten to eat homemade food these past few weeks.

After dinner -which Feliciano made certain to leave no trace of- Antonio set up the sleeping arrangements for the night. There were only three bed rooms (one belonging to Lovino, one to Antonio, and one they used for the rare guest) and there were six of them.

Francis was nice enough to offer to sleep with Antonio, but Lovino refused to allow that (for some reason Feliciano couldn't figure out). They eventually decided that Gilbert and Francis would share the guest bed, and that Feliciano would sleep with Lovino. That would have left Ludwig to sleep with Antonio, but Lovino didn't want that either. Hoping to make peace, Feliciano offered to switch so that Lovino could sleep with Antonio. But Lovino was even _more_ against that. Ludwig got so sick of the arguing that he finally volunteered to sleep on the couch, which seemed to satisfy Lovino enough.

Feliciano didn't get his brother.

But as he laid in bed next to him, he hoped he that he soon would. Now that they were together, the two of them had all the time in the world to get to know each other again! Maybe he could he even learn more about his past…

Feliciano didn't think about his life before the orphanage often, and had grown up not really caring about anything that might have happened back then. He had always just been happy with his life with Elizaveta and Roderich.

But lying next to his brother like this, well, it was real evidence that he had an entirely different life before the Fall. A life that had couldn't remember well, but one where he had been close to his brother.

Now his past and his looks were really the only thing that Feliciano shared with Lovino. If only Feliciano could remember something, then they could maybe go back to being as close as before.

Lovino had his back to him, making Feliciano unable to tell if he was still awake or not.

"Brother?" Feliciano whispered, not wanting to wake Lovino up if he was already asleep.

"What?" Lovino asked, not moving.

"What do you remember? From all those years ago?"

Feliciano thought he heard a soft sigh and, when Lovino didn't say anything, he wondered if his brother had fallen asleep.

But after a few moments Lovino turned around so that he could look at Feliciano. "I was only a few years older then you when it happened, so I only remember a little more then you do. Most of the memories are from that night, you know?"

Feliciano nodded, signaling to Lovino to continue talking. He wanted try and remember as much as he could, even if the memories were sad.

"The party was for you, of course. Rome always held big parties for _your _birthday. Or whenever he felt like it, really… It was stupid of him. I was only seven and even I knew that the commoners were poor and weren't happy. Pulling off a big party like that? It was just rubbing it in their faces. Idiot."

King Rome… his and Lovino's father, Feliciano couldn't recall much of him. But he could just barely remember warm big hands and a deep laugh. What did Lovino remember?

Feliciano wanted to ask him, but talking about their father seemed to make Lovino sad (even if he was trying to hide it). And if there was anything Feliciano was learning about his brother, it was that he tended to yell at people when he was upset about something (which seemed to be often).

He would just be quiet for now. There would be plenty of time, since that they had found each other, to ask all of the questions he wanted. For now he was just happy to hear Lovino talk.

"Rome didn't try to run though, I'll give him that. He saw them coming, the mob, and he just sent the two of us away. Just us and two servants, Lovino and Feliciano. When we were…when our carriage was attacked, they died trying to protect us. But you still got hurt…you wouldn't wake up for a long time. I tried to get help, but by then I saw the fire and knew we were on our own. Luckily, you eventually got up. And well, we just stayed in the city for a while. I gave us the servants' names as a disguise, hoping that no one would recognize us."

"Wait," Feliciano could just barely remember something from that night, something that contradicted his brother's words. "Are you sure there were only four of us that tried to escape?"

Lovino's frown (the one that he usually wore) deepened in concentration. "No, no. You're right. There were two others. Some kids from one of the other noble families. Germania's I think…"

"Germany and Prussia." Feliciano whispered, remembering a blond boy with kind eyes and his silver haired brother.

"Yeah…They probably ran away after the carriage crashed. Who the hell knows where they are now." Lovino said dismissively.

"Oh…" There was something bothering Feliciano, something about the two children he remembered.

That was it! He had drawn the two of them this afternoon, hadn't he? Back when he hadn't realized that he had actually known them. Maybe he could show it to Lovino… Oh wait, that was right! He had given it to Ludwig. Oh well, he would just ask Ludwig if he could borrow it back in the morning…

But then there was something else about those two, besides the drawing he had done of them, that was sitting in the back of his mind. But Feliciano was too tired to make any sense of it. Whatever it was could just wait till the morning. Besides, he needed the rest for tomorrow.

His brother seemed to have the same idea. "I'm tired. You better not snore or anything." Lovino said, turning in the bed so that his back once again faced Feliciano.

"Good night brother." Feliciano yawned, already beginning to fall asleep. He thought he heard a mumbled "good night" from his brother, but was too tired to be sure.

The last thing in Feliciano's mind before he gave into sleep was the hope that everything tomorrow would go well…

* * *

Don't jinx yourself.

Phew. Man, it feels like this chapter took forever! Though, now reading over it, I hope the pacing wasn't too fast... (it felt really slow when I was writing it, but I think that's because of how long it took to write).

Italy is the princess(?)! Congrats on some of the people who guessed it from chapter one! And those who guessed in the following chapters... a.k.a everyone XD

And did I mention this is based on Anastasia? Cause it is. As I'm sure most of you can tell.

Next chapter is the end! And it will fully explain a lot of stuff I'm guessing you guys are wondering about. And, you know, finish the story.

A big thanks to everyone who has ever reviewed, favorited, alerted, and read this story! I love you all! ;_;


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Notes: **Hey guys! Sorry it took a while, this would have been up sooner if the universe hadn't decided it would try to kill me... seriously. XD First I got sun burnt (yeah I know, go ahead and laugh) so bad that I actually almost had to go to the hospital a couple times. Yeah, my whole body puffed up and I couldn't really move...or even wear regular clothes. For more then a week. Yeah. And then right after that was mostly done my body decided to get sick...But I'm better now!

And here it is! The last chapter! Wow. I never imagined how far this would go when I first thought of this... I remember being really nervous when I posted the first chapter. But you all have been so good to me! Really guys, I love you all so much! Every review, alert, and favorite makes me so happy ;_;

So with that being said, I hope you enjoy the last chapter!

* * *

Ludwig's massive headache when he awoke was the first sign that this day would not go well.

The second sign was the fact that Gilbert was up before him.

Gilbert was_ never_ up before him. Surely he was just imagining things.

But no. There his brother was, his white hair and pale skin unmistakable, standing in the area of the kitchen that Ludwig could see from his place on the couch.

"You're up." Ludwig stated, slowly making his way out of his makeshift bed and walking towards the kitchen.

Gilbert grunted in affirmation as he began to open the multiple cabinets searching, Ludwig guessed, for food. "I couldn't sleep. Stupid ribs were bothering me again."

Ludwig nodded. He knew how hard it was to get enough sleep when you were in pain, his constant headaches letting him know first hand.

Although he was not happy about Gilbert's injuries bothering him -even if he was constantly annoying, Gilbert was still his brother and he didn't want to see him in pain- he was slightly relieved that he could spend a moment alone with him.

As far as Ludwig knew, the others were still asleep, leaving the two of them as the only ones awake. He was eager to take this opportunity to discuss with Gilbert something that had been bothering him since yesterday (although the matter had been on his mind for a while before that).

Gilbert gave out a victorious whoop as he stumbled upon a cookie jar. In normal circumstances Ludwig would have berated him on the fact that cookies did not make a very nutritious breakfast, but there were more important matters at hand.

"How long have you known?" Ludwig asked, deciding it was best to get to the heart of the manner.

Gilbert looked up at him in confusion. "Known what?"

He thought he had told his brother to chew with his mouth _closed_.

"About Feliciano." Ludwig wasn't an idiot. And neither was his brother, even if he didn't often provide evidence to the contrary. "All those years...those stories? About us being one of the Royals? You didn't make that up, did you."

Ludwig had grown up on his brother's tales. Stories of them belonging in the Palace, of being princes with different names, and of having parents and servants. Of course Gilbert had spoken of them as truths, never doubting the reality in his insane imaginings. He even went as far as to only call him "West", instead of the name he had given himself. A habit that he had (unfortunately) carried into adulthood.

But Ludwig could see what they really were. Stories made up in a desperate attempt to grasp at something. Things so far out reach to them, two poor (and at the worst times, homeless) boys. He understood the idea of wanting a home, food, and parents. Gilbert used his stories to keep them from losing hope (something he was grateful for now, but had been a pain when he was younger). But that was it. To Ludwig, they were always just stories.

Until now.

"...Really? NOW you believe me, after years of trying to tell you? I had given up! What the hell changed your mind now?" Gilbert asked, giving Ludwig a full view of a half devoured chocolate chip cookie. _Really._

Ludwig pulled out and began to unfold the paper that had been safely tucked away in his front pocket. He then placed the paper, showing three small head sketches, in front of Gilbert. "Feliciano drew these yesterday."

He gave his brother a few seconds to examine the drawing before going on. "It's supposed to be a sketch of the royals Germania, Prussia, and Germany."

There was still no verbal response from Gilbert. He stayed quiet except for the sound of his chewing as he continued to consume cookies (with the way he was devouring them, there would soon be none left).

"It looks like us. When we were kids." Ludwig said, trying to get a response out of his brother.

"No shit." Gilbert said, finally speaking. "Feliciano did these yesterday?"

Ludwig nodded in confirmation. "Yes, before we came here."

"Before? You mean he drew these and _still_ didn't get that he used to be royalty? West, no offense, but your boyfriend is **dense.**"

Ludwig chose to ignore the insinuation in that, and instead moved on to his main point. "You still haven't answered my question. How long have you known that he was really the princess?"

Gilbert gasped in mock shock. "Why brother! What could _possibly _make you think that I knew any more about this then you did?"

Ludwig chose to ignore the sarcasm, as he often did when talking to Gilbert. "Because you were older when it happened. You should have been able to recognize Feliciano."

Gilbert scoffed. "I should be saying that to you. You were the one who hanged out with the kid. Seriously, you two were inseparable. I, on the other hand, spent my time doing more awesome things- like learning how to fight. Which you should thank me for, by the way. Who do you think saved your ass when that mob tried to get us? Me, that's who. And those two servant guys. But mostly me. 'Cause I'm awesome."

This wasn't the first time he had heard the "I saved your ass" story, but it was the first time hearing it knowing that it was true. Though, knowing his brother, his heroics were probably vastly exaggerated.

"Gilbert, I know you're not an idiot. You must have realized it at some point. Why didn't you tell me?"

Gilbert sighed. "Yeah, yeah. I figured it out. Kind of. At first I had no idea who the hell you brought over that night. Oh, and West? Could you never do that again? I know you wanted to help and whatever, but picking a hobo of the street? That's kind of creepy. And dangerous. So yeah. Don't do that." Gilbert leveled him with a look before going on. "But anyways, it wasn't hard for an awesome genius like me to figure out."

Gilbert paused again as he reached further into the cookie jar, and upon seeing that it was now empty, proceeded to throw the jar in the trash. And Ludwig was reminded again of why his brother made a terrible house guest.

"I mean, the kid called Central City 'Europa'. Only rich kids would still refer to it as that- and Feliciano is obviously not rich. But that really wasn't a big deal. But when he put on that dress- he did look like the princess. I knew that he looked familiar, but I didn't realize exactly _who_ he reminded me of until then. Even then though, it could have just been coincidence. But the kid sometimes knew things he wasn't supposed to. Sure, he was really bad at remembering some of the political and technical stuff of the princess, but all the personal stuff? You remember. If it was the color of this uncle's cat, or the girl's favorite tea, the kid got it! By the first week, I started to realize that we could have the lost _prince, _Italy's brother_._ Didn't really think he could be the princess though, since he was boy! Not to mention that I was sure that we saw the girl die all those years ago. I mean, she wasn't moving…. but we were kids. Scared kids. So many others had died, it didn't take much convincing that one more had."

An image of a girl lying dead still in snow flashed through Ludwig's mind, causing a sick feeling to creep into his stomach. He pushed the feeling away, focusing on his brother again. "But why didn't you tell me?"

"Why would I?" Gilbert retorted. "You didn't listen to me then… why the hell would you now? You were super difficult, you know. Refused to listen to me, yelling at me whenever I tried to bring it up…Man, you had some serious problems. I didn't want to bring that shit up again."

Ludwig didn't know what to say. The two drifted into silence that would have soon become awkward if Francis hadn't walked into the room.

"Good Morning! I trust that you all had a good sleep, no?" He said, face cheery and relaxed. "Today is the day. We will soon be rich, my friends!"

"Whatever." Gilbert said, taking a seat at the dining table. "Feed me. I'm fucking starving here!"

Francis raised his eyebrow at the crumbs scattered across the floor, but declined to comment on it. "Let us see if our dear 'Toni does not have something I can cook. We'll all need to be ready for today."

Francis's search for food proved more successful then Gilbert's, having found pancake mix that they could use for breakfast. Francis quickly moved to the task of making them, and Ludwig made himself busy by cleaning up Gilbert's cookie mess (knowing that he would never clean it up himself).

Cleaning gave him time to think. Everything seemed so strange now and, to tell the truth, Ludwig was having trouble adjusting.

In the past day he had been forced to question his past, something that he had thought he had put behind him. It wasn't easy dealing with the sudden reality of being long-lost royalty. But at least he had been slightly prepared, there had always the possibility (no matter how small it had seemed back then) that Gilbert was telling the truth in his stories. At least the idea wasn't entirely new to him.

He could only imagine how Feliciano felt.

But knowing the man, he would probably take everything in stride. It was something he admired about Feliciano, his carefree personality. Ludwig wished he could be like that, not worrying about what happened or what could happen.

Gilbert called it "going with the flow" or something like that.

He could never be like that. He was like a rock. He didn't "flow".

Flowing was better used to describe rivers, people like Feliciano and his brother who moved from one thing to another without a care.

Though, if he was a rock, couldn't rocks be dropped in the river, and then it would flow? Or would the rock be too heavy. It would also have to depend at the speed that the river was flowing compared to the density of the rock…this was why he hated metaphors.

He shook his head, pushing away thoughts of streams and rivers and rocks and what have you.

Maybe he was making too much of a deal out of this. Really, nothing much had changed. Being old royalty meant nothing in this new government. Unless, of course, you were the princess trying to win back the money. But that was strictly a one time thing, something he doubt would ever happen again.

Finding out that he used to be…Germany, well it didn't really help him. Ludwig wouldn't be given any new money, land, or even recognition from that new fact. The only thing he gained from it was knowledge and acceptance. Which he supposed was good enough for him.

It wasn't the worst deal, all in all. Maybe this whole thing would even solve his horrible head ache problems. Which, he had been thinking for a while now, probably stemmed from his denial of what had happened.

Gilbert told stories to keep their history close, Ludwig had pushed it away. He could see that now.

His headaches or nightmares probably wouldn't stop all together, and he would still have to deal with the trauma of what had happened all those years ago. Seeing your home and family being burnt down didn't go without leaving an impression on a five year old kid. But now he felt like he could deal with what happened, really deal with it, instead of pushing it away unhealthily in an attempt to forget.

Even now he was beginning to feel a sort of weight lift off his shoulders. He no longer had to pretend nothing had happened. The past was the past, and he could look towards the future now

* * *

The smell of Francis' pancakes slowly but surely woke the rest of their friends. Lovino seemed grumpy (as usual) that they had used his and Antonio's food without permission (seeming even more pissed upon finding his empty cookie jar in the trash) and yelled at them for a while. Eventually though, his hunger won the best of him and he stopped his complaining in order to eat.

Antonio didn't seem to mind that they had used their food, and just seemed happy to eat breakfast. Though, Ludwig was starting to realize, Antonio was happy with just about anything.

He had been worried that Feliciano would be nervous about today. But his friend seemed as happy-go-lucky as usual, ignoring Ludwig's personal space and devouring the pancakes, which was relieving. Feliciano always seemed to remember less when he was nervous.

Maybe Ludwig's foreboding in the morning had been misplaced.

He sure hoped so.

By the time everyone had eaten to their fill -which was while...Ludwig wondered if Lovino's and Feliciano's seemingly limitless stomachs were a family trait- Ludwig felt like he was finally ready to go.

Antonio gave them directions to Central City's Archives from their house (which Ludwig didn't really think they needed, seeing as both he and Francis had once worked there, but he was appreciated the help anyway).

"You must promise me that you all will visit again! If you let me know you are coming ahead of time, I could even make some churros for all of you!" Antonio said, wishing them all goodbye.

"I'll take you up on that offer!" Gilbert said, slapping Antonio on the back in a friendly gesture. Knowing his brother, Gilbert took this as an invite to drop by the house whenever he felt like it.

Ludwig was familiar with this, seeing as his brother did the same to him, and he almost felt sorry for Antonio and Lovino.

"Hey jackass!"

Almost.

"If you touch my brother, I'll kill you!" Lovino said, giving him a death glare. For some reason that Ludwig couldn't understand, Lovino had taken an intense disliking to him. What did he do?

"Brother~ Be nice!" Feliciano said, already clothed as the princess in his best dress, as he went up to hug Lovino. He struggled for a bit before returning the hug with a pat on the back. "I promise brother! Next time I'll bring Elizaveta and Roderich!"

"Whatever." Lovino replied, turning his head away, embarrassed. He broke off the hug, and Feliciano skipped (Feliciano was the only person he knew who would skip instead of walking…) over to Ludwig. Which earned him another death glare from Lovino.

"Hope to see you soon, _mon ami_. Who says that we only have to meet for business, no?" Francis said, giving Antonio a goodbye hug.

"Sure!" Antonio smiled, oblivious to where Francis' hands were going. Francis managed to get in a quick grope before Lovino pushed them apart.

"You guys can _leave_ now!" Lovino said, directing the statement mostly at Francis.

Everyone managed a few more goodbyes before they took Lovino's advice, heading towards the Archives.

The whole way was mostly spent quizzing Feliciano on the interview information. Even if they now knew he was the actual princess, he still had to prove that to the government agents that would be questioning him.

Feliciano was doing well, which was a relief to everyone.

Sooner then Ludwig liked, they arrived in front of the Archives. It was strange, standing in front of the building now. He hadn't been here since he had quit his job, which now felt like ages ago.

There was the even more unsettling thought that this had once been the Palace. Or rather, what remained of the palace after the fire, rebuilt into a government building. Ludwig had known this before of course, but it was different now. He now recognized this place as his childhood home.

He looked over at his brother, wondering if he was feeling the strange nostalgia also. However Gilbert looked unaffected, talking to Francis like usual.

"What do you mean, you're not going inside?" Gilbert asked.

"I told you, I was fired not too long ago. I know the man who will be questioning our little "Felicia". Arthur would no doubt be suspicious if he saw me, and he would instantly suspect something was amiss. We cannot afford such a thing, no?" Francis replied calmly. Gilbert seemed to deem this a satisfactory answer.

"I'll simply go visit little Mathieu while I wait for you to finish." Francis continued, "I'll come back in an hour or so. Hopefully we will be rich by then, no?"

Ludwig nodded, and Francis gave everyone a wink before walking off. "Good luck Feli!" He gave one last shout, and they could no longer see him.

"You're not going with him?" Ludwig asked Gilbert, raising an eyebrow. It was slightly surprising, after all, seeing as these past few weeks Gilbert had been following Francis and Matthew around most of the time. Not that he was complaining. It had been easier teaching Feliciano with his brother gone.

"Nah. I gotta make sure you guys don't mess this up!" Gilbert said, making Ludwig sigh a bit. It might have been easier to go through this without having to watch his brother –you could never underestimate the trouble Gilbert could get into-, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Are you ready?" Ludwig asked Feliciano. When he gave a small nod, the three headed into the building.

It was just as Ludwig remembered it. Walking though the halls (Gilbert leading the way in his earnestness) made him feel as if he had never left. He had thought he would have been happy to be back, seeing as his job at the Archives had been when he was most secure.

That was happiness for Ludwig. Security. And usefulness. Both of which he had had back at his old job.

So why wasn't he happy?

"Ve… Ludwig?" Feliciano whispered so low that, had he not have been gripping his arm (which was _not _bothering him. Of course not), Ludwig wouldn't have heard him.

"Yes?" He asked, pushing away his former thoughts (really, it most just be his worry over today that was affecting him…) to listen.

"D-do you th-think I'll mess up?" Feliciano asked, his nervousness starting to show for the first time.

"Just try your best." He said, making Feliciano's grip on his arm tighter. Ludwig could feel his face heat up, but he tried his best to push the blush away. It was just Feliciano's lack of personal space… he really should be used to it by now.

"If-if I mess up, you won't hate me, right?"

This was the second time Feliciano had asked that question. Why did he think that Ludwig would, or ever could, hate him? Sure, Feliciano could be a little spacey and hard to work with at times, but that didn't mean he didn't…mind… spending time with him.

But just like before, it was difficult for him to answer such a question. It was hard to think of something when he was put on the spot like that! He looked down at Feliciano, who was now staring up at him with worried eyes. Seeing his face like that, well, motivated him to try and move his mouth correctly.

"Um-I c-could never, well that is to say…I do-don't think you could… make me hate you." Ludwig said, trying hard to swallow his dignity. Saying such things was embarrassing, and he could already feel his face heating up exponentially. But it was worth it, as Feliciano's nervousness slipped away as his face lit up.

"Really Ludwig?" He jumped, still holding onto his arm. "That's great! It's fantastic! I like you too!"

Wait, what?

"H-huh?" He managed to squeak out, but Feliciano didn't hear him. He was on a roll now. He was no longer squeezing his arm, having instead grabbed Ludwig's hand and begun to swing it back and forth with his.

"This is great! I was a little scared at first 'cause you kinda have a scary face at times but you're really nice and sweet and you listen to me and it's really funny when you talk and when you blush- not to mention you're strong and big! But you were acting kinda a weird for a while and I thought that meant you didn't like me! Ve! But I was wrong! Isn't that great Ludwig?"

Feliciano liked him? It sure sounded like it… but he had thought, well, he didn't know what he had thought. Certainly not this.

They were holding hands. And Feliciano was saying what he liked about him. If Ludwig had thought that his previous blush was red, then he didn't think they had a name for whatever color his face now was.

Gilbert turned back to look at them, raising one eyebrow. He stopped, looking like he was about to ask a question, but apparently thought better of it.

"Hey, I thought I saw someone walking in one of the hallways. I'm gonna go ask them where the questioning room is, okay? You guys- just stay here and do… whatever you guys do when I'm not here." He said instead, walking towards a hallway they had past a while back.

Ludwig thought he heard snickering as his brother walked away from him.

"Ah… Felicia?" He said (addressing him by his girl name, seeing as they were in the Archives with the slight chance that someone might overhear them) looking at the excited man who still had a grip on his hand. "I-I don't really understand what you're saying."

"I like you. And you like me. Right?" Feliciano said without hesitation, smiling up at him brightly.

Ludwig began to wonder if excessive blushing could be unhealthy. How could he say such things so easily?

"Um. That is…" He managed to say, and he could see Feliciano's face begin to drop.

"Oh… Was-was I assuming stuff again? R-roderich says I should stop that…" Ludwig could feel Feliciano's hand slip from his, causing a sinking feeling to rise in his stomach.

Really, this was getting ridiculous. Feliciano had just misunderstood what he had said. Ludwig had no reason to feel bad that Feliciano had thought he meant something that he didn't…

…

But it wasn't as if he didn't appreciate the man's company. Even if he didn't ever stop talking, and he was always babbling about Pasta, and he pulled random things out of weird places, and he had no sense of personal space, and he could never get _any_ work done…

Well, it wasn't as if he absolutely hated it when he did those things.

Feliciano was really the only person he could stand for long amounts of time on this stupid trip. And, he had to admit, he felt… happy when he was with the excitable man. And not the type of happiness of having security he had felt at his old job, but a warm feeling that made him feel…at home.

(Ludwig was not unaware of how cheesy he sounded.)

So when he saw Feliciano's face drop in disappointment, he couldn't stop himself from speaking up. Even if he knew he might regret it.

"No. I mean, yes. You did assume…" Feliciano was looking down on the ground now, avoiding his gaze. "But, that doesn't mean you were wrong, exactly."

Feliciano's head whipped up, a hopeful look in his eyes. "So you do like me?"

Ludwig managed a nod as he felt his face redden again.

"Yahoo~!" Feliciano whooped, grabbing Ludwig's hand again and interlacing their fingers. Feliciano gave him a happy smile, and Ludwig returned it with a smaller and shyer one.

Standing there together, Ludwig had to admit, wasn't the worst feeling in the world.

It didn't take long before Gilbert returned with directions, and the three began heading for the questioning room.

Ludwig had been hoping that his brother wouldn't comment on their current joined state, but it was too much to hope for. "You two lovebirds finally made out?"

Ludwig heard himself stutter in denial but his brother continued to give him that creepy smile (obviously not buying it).

"Don't forget to invite me to the wedding!" He laughed, making various other comments, while enjoying Ludwig's embarrassment.

Gilbert made more comments as they walked the rest of the way (though, even with his brother's teasing, he never let go of Feliciano's hand) until they reached the questioning room.

The door in front of them was closed, and Gilbert moved to open it when it burst open by itself. Out came running a dark haired young man (it was very obviously a man) wearing…Ludwig didn't think there was enough fabric to call that a dress.

"Bloody hell! Im Young Soo!" An angry voice came from the room, causing the man to turn around.

"The runaway princess originated with me!" He said, winking at the disgruntled blond man that had appeared at the door before running down the hall.

Was this what the government had been doing since he left?

"I'll tell your brother about this! Don't think I won't!" But the man was either already too far away to hear or just didn't care about the other man's yelling.

"Relax Artie. He was probably just trying to liven things up. Come on, we got company." Another blond came to the door, causing the other man (who Ludwig assumed was the 'Arthur' that Francis had spoken of) to acknowledge the three of them for the first time.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that…So I assume you're here for the princess project?" Arthur said, trying to compose himself after the yelling match.

"Yup! You're looking at the real princess here!" Gilbert, motioning towards Feliciano, said in his best I'm-totally-telling-the-truth voice he often used in his cons. It felt strange hearing his brother say something true in that voice.

"Yes. I'm sure." Arthur said dryly. "Won't you come inside?"

"Don't mind if I do!" Gilbert said, before he was stopped by the bespectacled blond (who looked familiar…though it was probably just his imagination, there were plenty of blonds in Central City after all).

"Sorry pal! We got a policy, only the little lady is allowed in." He said, flashing a smile.

"Unless you're claiming to be the princess." Arthur asked, wearing a small smirk.

Gilbert grumbled, backing away from the door.

"You ready to go?" The other man asked, directing the question towards Feliciano.

Ludwig could see that Feliciano was getting nervous, possibly at the idea that he would have to face the two alone, and Ludwig gave his hand (what he hoped was) a reassuring squeeze.

Feliciano gave him a small smile before letting go of his hand to enter the room with the two.

The door closed, blocking of any sound of the investigation that was about to take place.

Ludwig and Gilbert stood there in silence. Ludwig hoped that Feliciano wouldn't be too nervous…Did they go over the family crests today? What if Feliciano got scared? Hopefully there wouldn't be too much of a scene…

"West?" Gilbert, who had been eerily quiet, spoke up. "This room used to be part of the Palace right?"

"Yes…" His brother looked deep in thought. That was never a good sign. "Why?"

"How much did they change?" Gilbert was now staring intently at the wall by the door.

"I think this is one of the few rooms they didn't build over-"

"Awesome!" Gilbert said, now kneeling on the ground with his hands searching the wall.

"What are you doing-"

"Aha! Found it!" His brother pointed towards a small bump in the wall. It looked like just another air bubble in the paint job but Gilbert pushed through the paint, revealing a space in the wall.

"Congratulations brother. You found a hole." Why was Gilbert wasting time ruining the room's décor? There were more important things happening, not to mention Ludwig didn't feel like paying for a new paint job.

"Just watch and be amazed!" Gilbert replied, now doing…something to the hole. Ludwig didn't think he wanted to know. But all of a sudden Ludwig heard a click and part of the wall _opened._

"What-what is _that_?" The part of the wall creaked to the side like a door, revealing a dark tunnel.

"It's a fairy portal. What does it look like?" Gilbert retorted, brushing away a few cobwebs that had collected over the opening.

"But- a secret passage way? This is ridiculous…" Ludwig wasn't really sure what to think. Shouldn't the government have caught this when they were building the Archives? He knew that this was one of the areas that wasn't rebuilt, but were they really so lazy as to only repaint the whole area?

"Aren't you coming? If I remember correctly, this gives us a view of that room they're in." Gilbert was on his hands and knees, prepared to crawl through the passageway.

Ludwig stayed where he was. This was ridiculous. He was not going to crawl through some ancient passage, not to mention that it didn't look at all safe.

"Come on. They're probably asking the questions already! Don't you want to make sure Feliciano doesn't, like, die or something?" Gilbert said, not waiting for an answer before he began crawling through the passageway.

Ludwig stood there, the small door still open, and the area of the wall filled with paint cracks from when the door had opened.

He waited there for a few moments before sighing and following his brother into the tunnel. Closing the door behind him, not wanting anyone to follow them in, he began the long and humiliating crawl through the tunnel.

It was dusty (although the passage way did get wider, making him feel less trapped) and Ludwig had a hard time keeping himself from sneezing.

Eventually he reached his brother in front of some kind of window. Gilbert spotted him, and waved him over with a signal to be quiet. Ludwig sat besides his brother and looked out the window to see a lavishly decorated room. Inside were Feliciano and the two government agents, already in the middle of their inquiry.

The window they were looking through was most likely a double mirror (though Ludwig wasn't sure if you were supposed to be able to hear sound if that was the case) giving him and his brother a clear view of everything.

"And what meal was prepared for you on Saturday evenings?" Arthur asked. Ludwig tensed in anticipation, even though he knew Feliciano would get this one right. He always remembered information about food.

"Pasta! And I would eat it every night! Not just Saturday, ve~" Feliciano answered.

"Correct!" The bespectacled blond said, giving Feliciano a thumbs up. Arthur sighed and turned to his partner. "Alfred, don't you think 'pasta' is a bit vague?"

"Oh come off it Artie! She answered your question and gave some info back, what more do ya want? Besides, if she is the princess, she wouldn't remember what type of noodles she ate."

Arthur grumbled something intelligible before moving on to the next question.

Alfred and Arthur continued to give question after question to Feliciano, who answered each correctly. Ludwig's nerves were on edge as the questioning went on, but Feliciano never messed up (even if he did occasionally stutter at the harder questions).

"Okay, last question. If you are the princess, then how'd you escape? And where have you been all this time?"

"That's two questions." Arthur gently berated Alfred, "But do enlighten us."

"Ve…" Feliciano said, sounding melancholy. "I don't remember a lot. But papa Rome made me and my brother leave with a couple of servants…there were a two other kids too, and we got out of the castle through this secret passageway. I guess there was a carriage, and we tried to get away. But we ran into this mob and…I don't remember what happened. I just know my brother woke me up and we were able to get away."

"Oh! So you say your brother survived too?" Alfred interrupted, looking curious. There had been many rumors surrounded Prince Romano's survival, and Ludwig doubted that any one before Feliciano had openly claimed to know what had happened to him.

"Yeah! But we got separated after that… I only just met him again recently! Yesterday actually! It was a really big surprise 'cause I went over to Antonio's house and he was just there~ It was a really nice surprise! But anyways, after we got separated I ended up at the orphanage-"

"Woah, wait! The orphanage over here?" Alfred looked even more surprised when Feliciano nodded. "No kidding! I went there too! Don't remember seeing you there- but that place was way overcrowded so I probably missed you."

"Ve! I don't remember you either… but that's the place where I met Elizaveta and Roderich. I've been living with them all this time, until just recently."

"Well then." Arthur stood up from his chair and dusted his shirt off. "Thank you for answering our questions…"

This was it, Ludwig realized. Did they believe Feliciano? They had to… He had answered every question correctly and had been sincere (seeing as he was telling the truth). Ludwig heard Gilbert hold his breath in anticipation.

"But..uh..I'm afraid…" Arthur seemed flustered at this, stammering before Alfred interrupted him.

"Sorry miss, I mean you're a good actress and all-but we know you're not the princess."

"WHAT?" Gilbert let out his breath in a loud yell.

Oh no. Ludwig hoped dearly that they didn't hear that.

His hopes were lost, however, when everyone turned towards them. Even though he knew they couldn't see them, Ludwig still felt awkward under everyone's gazes.

"What was that?" Arthur asked, alarmed at the sudden noise, still staring intently at Ludwig and Gilbert's hiding place.

"I-is it a gh-ghost?" Alfred, who had gone pale, stuttered.

Ludwig prayed that they would just ignore it and move on. And that might have been the case, had Gilbert not decided to open his damned mouth again.

"Boooooo… I am the ghost of King Rommmmeeeee…"

No. Just no. This wasn't happening.

"EEEK! ARTIE! IT'S A GHOST!" Alfred shrieked, attempting to hide behind his chair.

"Eh… Papa Rome?" Feliciano asked, looking around in an effort to find the supposed 'ghost'.

"That's right! I'm totally old King Rome! And Feli-Felicia over there is my daughter! Yeah! And you should_ so_ give all of the money to her! Or even better! Her awesome friend Gilbert! You know-the devilishly handsome white haired dream boat that you met earlier? I'm sure I don't need to introduce someone so amazingly awesome…"

"We should do what he says, Artie! He could eat us!" Alfred cried, still hiding behind his chair.

"Rubbish. Ghosts don't exist. There must be someone else in here with us…" Arthur said, staring intently at Ludwig and Gilbert's hidden spot. "The voice is coming from this mirror."

"No! You're wrong! I'm a ghost!" Arthur didn't look convinced as he began to walk over to the mirror.

"Stop! Don't go any further! I'll-I'll uh…uh…BOOOOO!" Gilbert was leaning up against his side of the mirror, as if being closer to Arthur's face would discourage him. Needless to say, it didn't work.

Arthur paid no attention to Gilbert's pleas as he reached the mirror, pressing his hand against the bottom of the glass.

Suddenly Ludwig felt a push as the mirror flipped, working similar to a sliding door, and dumped both him and Gilbert unceremoniously on the ground.

"Shit!" Gilbert swore painfully, having landed face first on the ground, as Ludwig helped him get up.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Arthur asked, a mix of shock (that two people had just come out of the wall) and anger (that they had been listening in on the investigation) apparent on his face.

"Ludwig!" Feliciano cried, coming out of his hiding space behind Alfred's chair and tackled him in a hug. "There was a ghost!"

"That was Gilbert." Ludwig said, trying to calm him down.

"So there's no ghost?" Alfred asked, still hidden behind his chair.

"No, you git. There was no ghost! These two just snuck in somehow!" With Arthur's reassurance Alfred finally came out of his hiding spot.

"Aww, that's not cool you guys. Now we gotta kick you out." He said, walking towards the rest of them while pretending that he hadn't been scared paralyzed for the last few minutes.

"No way! We are not leaving without our cash!" Gilbert refused to leave empty handed.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to accept that we have concluded that this girl is not the princess-" Arthur tried to explain before being interrupted by Gilbert.

"Bullshit! She answered every answer correctly! What more do you guys want?"

"We have inside information that-"

"What kind of information?" Ludwig asked. Arthur looked annoyed at being interrupted yet again.

"Well we obviously can't tell you, revealing such information could ruin our whole investigation!"

"Yeah! It's super secret stuff. Only us heroes can know!" Alfred elaborated.

"Uh… yes. Quite." Arthur paused, giving his partner a strange look, before turning to the three of them. "Now I don't know how you people got in here, or inside that mirror, but you need to leave right-"

"It think it was a passageway." Feliciano spoke up, surprising Arthur.

"What?"

"A passageway. I remember there being a lot of them in the Palace…We used one when we escaped. Papa liked them I think."

"O-oh." Was the only thing Arthur could say. Ludwig wasn't sure if he was more surprised that Feliciano knew about such things or that he was still acting like the princess.

Alfred looked just as surprised, if not more curious. "Hey kid, what did you say your name was again?"

"Um…most people just call me Feliciano."

There was a pregnant silence in the room as Feliciano's statement sunk in.

"Hey…Isn't that a boy's name?" Alfred's question went unanswered as someone came through the door.

"Hello? They told me you would be in here. I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Standing by the now open door was a beautiful woman holding onto a large painting. "Is this a bad time?" She asked, her brown eyes looking around the room before landing on Feliciano.

"Italy?" The woman breathed out in disbelief.

She knew who Feliciano was? Though there was something familiar about the woman…

Ludwig looked to Feliciano, whose eyes sparked in recognition. "Greece?" He asked timidly, sounding just as unsure as the woman.

The woman smiled warmly, putting aside the painting she was carrying to open up her arms. Feliciano took the invitation and ran into her embrace. "Oh Italy…it's been so long."

The whole thing would have made for pretty picture, Ludwig thought, had it not been for the fact that he had no idea what had just happened. The two hugged for a few more moments before breaking away.

"Right then…Who are you exactly?" Arthur asked the woman before she or Feliciano could speak.

"Oh! Sorry Artie, my bad. This is the lady I told you about, the one who used to work for Rome!" Alfred spoke up, looking slightly embarrassed that he hadn't introduced the two sooner (which Ludwig couldn't blame him for not doing, Feliciano's and the woman's apparent reunion was a bit distracting). "Arthur, this is uh, Greece. Greece, this is my partner, Arthur."

"It's nice to meet you." Greece said politely, picking up her large picture again. "I thought I would come here and bring you the painting I told you about- both to prove I was telling the truth and to perhaps help with your investigation."

She held up the large painting so that everyone in the room could clearly see it. On it was a portrait painting of the Royal Family, as well as their inner circle of nobles. The deceased King Rome happily carried a young Lovino and Feliciano, while a regal looking woman (who was the boy's mother, Ludwig assumed) stood besides him on his left. To the right of King Rome stood a grumpy blonde man that looked eerily familiar to Feliciano's earlier sketch of Germania. Ludwig then knew instantly without having to look that the two figures standing in front of the man were him and his brother. Another family stood besides them, but Ludwig didn't recognize them…which was probably for the better. Standing to the side of the picture, far away from either of the families, was a servant who looked remarkably like the woman now holding the picture.

"Wow! That's great! Thanks!" Alfred said as he grabbed the painting and carefully placed it against one of the chairs.

"It's no problem. You can keep it if you like, though I suppose you won't be needing it anymore." Greece said.

"What do you mean?" Alfred asked, clearly confused.

"Well, you've already found Italy." Greece clarified, pointing towards Feliciano (who had moved back to Ludwig's side).

"Wait, wait. Are you saying that this girl here is Italy? " Arthur did not look convinced.

Greece looked slightly surprised at this, and seemed to notice for the first time that Feliciano was wearing a dress. "What? Italy, why are you dressed like a girl?"

"Oh…Well, I had to so I could win the money, and it's not uncomfortable or anything…" Feliciano said, causing Greece to lightly chuckle and murmur "just like old times...".

"So you ARE a guy?" Alfred asked.

"Yup!" Feliciano said, looking relieved now that he didn't have to pretend to be a girl anymore.

"and you're actually the princess-prince- uh… Italy?"

"Yeah! I didn't really know till recently…it's kinda funny because I didn't know I was the princess when I agreed to do thi-" Gilbert put a hand over Feliciano's mouth before he could reveal that they had been planning on tricking the government. Sure, the planned hoax had turned into the real thing, but it probably wasn't a good idea for the agents to know that they hadn't always been genuine.

"SOOO- Where's the mullah?" Gilbert asked, hand still over Feliciano's mouth.

Alfred and Arthur exchanged a look before Arthur broke down in a sigh. "Yes. A deal is a deal. You can all wait here with Alfred while I go get the money."

Arthur exited the room morbidly, leaving all of them behind in the room.

"Man, what the hell is his problem?" Gilbert asked, breaking the few awkward seconds of silence that had descended on the room.

"Arthur worked really hard on this project." Alfred answered, glancing at the exit Arthur had used. "He wanted it to work out, you know? I don't think he- either of us really- expected this."

Alfred paused, eyes still on the door, before he gave them an apologetic smile. "Hey, do you guys mind waiting here by yourselves? I'm gonna make sure the old man is okay." Alfred ran out before anyone could answer, shouting a "Thanks!" over his shoulder before going after his partner.

Some of the tension in the room left with Alfred, and everyone began to take relax and sit down. Greece and Feliciano began to catch up, reminiscing about what little Feliciano could remember. Ludwig, though he would never admit it, enjoyed listening to the two talk about the past. Hearing the stories they shared made him feel less strange about everything, less like he was hallucinating.

It was unbelievable really. Only about a month ago he had been living alone, working a horrible job, with no wish to go into his past. And then he had run into Feliciano. There was nothing special about him, just another man on the streets. But he had taken him home with him…Ludwig still didn't know why he did that. He had a feeling it had something to do with those brown eyes- something that reminded him of a young 'girl' that he had thought he had forgotten long ago. And then, as if by fate Ludwig thought (though he had never believed in such a thing in his life), his brother had suddenly burst into his life again with another of his crazy ideas, wanting his help for the first time. And he had actually said yes.

Ludwig wondered where he would be now if he hadn't met Feliciano or agreed with Gilbert's plans. Probably still at his house alone. Certainly not here, waiting for money that would set him for life, in his old home and surrounded by people from his past.

"But really Italy, I never expected to find you here." Greece's voice interrupted his thoughts, "You were never one to go after wealth. And I thought you would appreciate what those two boys were planning on doing your inheritance."

"What were they going to do with it?" Feliciano asked.

"I'm not very sure of the specifics, I really only spoke to Alfred that once. But from what he told me, they were planning on improving the orphanages and other such buildings."

"Really! Ve… that sounds like a good idea! But I promised to give some of the money to Ludwig, Gilbert, and Francis…but maybe I could give my share to them! It would be nice if those orphanages weren't so crowded… And I never really never cared about the money. I did all of this for Ludwig!" Feliciano said, turning towards him with a smile.

Greece also turned her attention towards him, and Ludwig suddenly felt strange about not having greeted her properly before now. "Hello."

"Hello." Greece returned, "You are Ludwig?" She continued when he nodded. "You look familiar…"

Oh. Well, if she was really an old servant of the Royals, it only made sense that she would recognize him. Should he tell her? In front of Feliciano? It felt awkward, seeing as he hadn't even told him yet…he just hadn't found the right moment to do so yet. And what if Feliciano treated him differently because of it? Though he doubted that would be the case, it was still a tad bit worrisome.

"Are you serious?" Gilbert said, "HE'S the one that looks familiar? What the hell is wrong with everyone here! I'm a fucking albino! You would think people would remember someone as awesome as me!"

He did have a point there. Really, it was a bit amazing that no one had ever seemed to recognize Gilbert. It was a bit depressing actually.

Greece's face paused in thought before her mouth curved in a small sideways smile. "I'm glad to see you're still taking care of everyone, Prussia." She turned back towards Ludwig. "Though I have to say I'm not really surprised to see you here. You were always fond of Italy."

He could already tell that he was blushing.

Feliciano looked confused, his mouth hanging in an 'o' shape, until realization dawned on his face.

"Germany?" He asked, and Ludwig had no choice but to nod.

"Uh, yes. That used to be my name."

Feliciano gave a shout of joy before jumping out of his seat and onto Ludwig. "You used to be a noble? Why didn't you tell me! This is so great, ve! I was just thinking about Germany and Prussia and I was hoping that they hadn't died or something 'cause I kinda remember a little a bit about them, especially Germany which is you! So it's good that you're alive and we can talk about everything and I knew from the first instant I saw you that I could trust you! Ve! This is going to be so much fun and-" Feliciano began rambling, and all Ludwig could do was nod lamely. Really, it was kind of hard to think with the man on top of him like that.

"Sorry for the wait." Alfred apologized as both he and Arthur entered the room. "Here's the money. Just take it and get out." Arthur said grumpily as he dumped a large bad in front of them.

Alfred placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Arthur to become calmer and sigh. "I'm sorry. That was unnecessary. But you're free to go now if you wish."

"Alright!" Gilbert shouted, immediately running up to grab the money. Ludwig would have to be the one to count and split it, Gilbert couldn't be trusted with doing it evenly.

"Well, I suppose we'll be leaving then. Thank you for your time, you can do what you like with the money." Arthur said as he and Alfred began to leave before they were stopped by Feliciano.

"Wait!" He called out, stopping the two in their tracks. "You were planning on fixing the orphanages and stuff, right?"

Alfred nodded, looking confused. "Yeah. Why?"

"Ve…How much would you need?"

"Any amount would have been good. Even a little money helps in the long run." Arthur stated, surprise evident on his face.

"That's great! You guys can have my share then~" Ludwig knew Feliciano didn't care much about money, but even this was surprising. He was just too careless with such things, Ludwig thought with a small smile. Usually something like this would bother him, but it was just so like Feliciano to give away so much money, to people he didn't know even, just so he could help with such a cause…

"Really? You're serious!" Alfred's smile widened at Feliciano's nod. "That's awesome! Did ya hear that Artie?" He laughed, grabbing the shorter man up in a hug.

"Put me down you git!" Arthur yelled, his face growing red.

As Alfred finally put Arthur down (after a few moments of the man yelling) Ludwig was suddenly stuck by an idea.

"Excuse me?" Ludwig asked, gaining the two agents' attention. "I used to work here in the Archives…"

"Oh, were you the one who quit? It was because of you that I had to work my arse off looking for information." Arthur said, looking slightly annoyed of being reminded of the hours of work from the project's earlier days.

"Um, yes." Ludwig apologized awkwardly before getting to his main point. "I was wondering…if I gave you part of my share of the money, could I get my job back here?"

Ludwig figured that offering the money would soften them to his request, which had been his main reason on coming over here anyways, and he figured he wouldn't need all of the money if he could get his job back.

"Oh." Arthur said, looking surprised at the second offer of money. "I-uh- yes, I suppose that would work."

"Wow! This is pretty amazing!" Alfred said, before turning to Gilbert jokingly. "You sure you don't want to give us part of your share too?"

"Hell no. You're not getting anything out of me!" Gilbert laughed, "But seriously. I don't get you two. You two are insane for letting go of all this cash!"

Ludwig ignored his brother and began the long work of counting and sorting out the money in the room (seeing as both he and Feliciano were planning on leaving some of it with Alfred and Arthur). Feliciano said goodbye to Greece, who said she had to return back home, and promised to send letters to the address she gave him.

"Be sure to keep in touch." Greece said as she left to catch her train ride back home.

It took a while, but Ludwig was good at numbers and finished soon enough.

Even being split into four, any of the four piles had more money then he had ever seen together in his life. Ludwig could tell that everyone else in the room had the same thought.

"I call that one!" Gilbert said, grabbing one of the piles that he thought looked the largest (it wasn't of course, they were all the same amount).

"I hope you're not planning on just carrying that amount with your bare hands." Ludwig said as Gilbert began counting his pile.

"Oh! I can get bags for you if you want." Alfred said, quickly exiting the room and re-entering it with three carrying bags.

"Thank you." Ludwig said, randomly picking on of the piles of money and putting it into the bag for Francis. Gilbert grabbed the bag and began doing the same with his own money.

Feliciano didn't bother picking up his share. "You guys can have that one!" He said, pointing towards one of the piles, which Ludwig then began placing inside the original bag that Arthur gave them (along with half of his own share).

When all the money had been split and put in their separate bags, they were ready to leave. They still had to tell Francis the good news.

"Thanks guys! Really, this was really awesome of you." Alfred said when they handed the two agents the money they were leaving with them.

"Of course! I'm always awesome!" Gilbert said proudly.

"You didn't give us anything." Arthur pointed out flatly.

"But seriously guys, you have no idea how many kids and people we could help with this kind of money." Alfred continued, his smile appreciative.

"And seeing that we were still able to keep a profit, even with the actual 'princess' showing up, our superiors are likely to let us take charge with the money." Arthur said, giving a small smile, "And I'm sure they'll listen to any job recommendations we give them." He finished, glancing at Ludwig.

"Thank you." Ludwig said, "Though I may take some time, to sell my house and get a residence near here, before I begin working." It would be easier and less time consuming to live in Central City, rather then take the train to and from Amerigo everyday.

"That's no problem. Take all the time you need." Arthur replied.

They then said the rest of their goodbyes and took their leave.

* * *

"So how did it go?"

Waiting right outside of the Archives was Francis, along with…that other guy.

"See for yourself!" Gilbert said, practically throwing Francis's share of money at the man. Francis caught the bag and his knees nearly buckled at the weight of it all. He quickly regained his balanced and opened the bag to see their winnings.

"_Mon Dieu_…We've actually done it!" He cried out in both disbelieve and joy.

"And who do we have to thank?" Gilbert said, swinging an arm around both Francis and Matthew.

"Ah, thank you for reminding me." Francis said, stepping out of Gilbert's grip and taking Feliciano's hands in his own. "Thank you my boy! You are forever in my gratitude."

"Hello? I was talking about me. You know, the one who came up with the whole idea?" Gilbert said, frowning.

"Eh…Thanks?" Matthew felt a bit obligated to say something, even though he didn't get anything, seeing as he was still under Gilbert's arm.

"See? At least someone appreciates my awesomeness!" Gilbert smiled widely, accepting Matthew's answer, and he hugged the confused man closer. Everyone else had either chosen to ignore Gilbert by now or forgotten the two were there.

"You're welcome!" Feliciano said as Francis gave his knuckles a light kiss.

"So Arthur didn't give you all any trouble?" He asked, addressing the question to both Ludwig and Feliciano.

"Nope! Alfred and Arthur were really nice! Although Arthur was kinda grumpy sometimes…" Feliciano answered, catching Matthew's attention.

"Did you say Alfred was there too?" Matthew asked, slipping out of Gilbert's grip and walking up to the three.

"Yes. You know him?" Ludwig asked.

Matthew nodded. "We're brothers." Ah. So that was why Alfred had seemed slightly familiar, there was definitely a family resemblance between the two. "So he was working with Arthur? They weren't fighting or anything, were they?" Matthew's voice grew suddenly worried, with Francis sending a sympathetic glance in his direction.

"Ve? Well, Arthur did hit him a few times…but they looked like they were friends! Alfred even went after him when he left the room looking sad and stuff…" Feliciano answered, looking slightly confused at the question.

"Really now?" Francis asked, raising his eyebrows. "That is surprising, though good, news. We'll have to visit those two some time, _oui _Mathieu?" He said towards Matthew while casually laying an arm around his shoulders. Matthew nodded, looking a bit flustered.

"Hey! Why don't you just go see 'em now?" Gilbert asked.

"I think it would be best to leave the two alone after such a day, no?" Francis said, giving a wicked smile. "Besides, I'll be staying in this city for a while with little Mathieu. There will be plenty of time to see those two and reminisce."

Matthew further clarified. "And I don't think they'll be in a great mood after being tricked out of so much money, eh…"

"Oh man, I forgot! You guys haven't heard, have you?" Gilbert said, telling the two of how both Feliciano and Ludwig had given up part of their money to the agents, as well as what had happened in the questioning room.

Ludwig tuned out his brother, not wanting to hear his version of events. He turned to Feliciano, who had grown strangely quiet and was staring at the ground.

"Are you okay?" He asked, his concern showing through in his voice.

Feliciano looked up, surprised that he had spoken.

"Ludwig?" He asked, still looking distracted. "What's going to happen now?"

He felt a bit taken back by the question, and then it suddenly dawned on him. It was done now. They had won the money, Feliciano had found his brother, and he had gotten his job back. Their original reason for all of them staying together was gone.

"Do we have to split up now?" Feliciano asked again, his eyes beginning to look watery.

"Well…" Ludwig started, figuring he would try to state the facts and figure it out from there. "Francis and Matthew look like they are going to stay here in the city for a while, and I have to head back and sell my old house to get a new one here, one that is closer to my job…my brother will probably come to retrieve some of his stuff he left there, lord knows what he'll do then…weren't you going to go back and see Elizaveta and Roderich again?"

Feliciano brightened at this, remembering his promise to his surrogate family. "Yeah! I still have to tell them all that's happened. And I have to bring them here to meet Lovino!"

Ludwig gave a small smile at seeing the man's sudden enthusiasm. "It seems like we're heading the same way again…" He felt slightly nervous at asking the man to come with him (which was ridiculous, seeing as he already knew Feliciano felt the same way). So he was relieved when Feliciano finished his thought.

"We can go together then!" Feliciano said, grabbing and interlacing their hands together, all of his previous worry fading away. "Ve~ I'll introduce you to Elizaveta and Roderich! You'll get along, I just know it!"

Ludwig began to relax, already getting used to the feeling of Feliciano's hand in his, and listened to him talk excitingly. He wondered what type of people Elizaveta and Roderich were, having practically raised Feliciano. Although he had heard plenty about them, he wasn't very sure how they would act when he actually meet them. Though he would find out soon enough…

Hopefully they wouldn't hate him like Lovino did, who he would most likely meet again soon. Ludwig could just imagine the death glares he would get if he showed up at his and Antonio's house looking like _this_. He would probably get hit for holding hands with the man's brother like he was now, but at least he didn't have to worry about that until later.

"And then I can send some postcards to Greece! Though I still have to figure out what address I'll give her…I kinda already moved out of Elizaveta and Roderich's house –they just got married! And I don't wanna get in between their honeymoon…Maybe I could stay with Lovino for a while? Though I don't know if brother will agree with that…"

"You could always stay with me." Ludwig blurted out before he realized what he was saying.

What was it about Feliciano that made him say such things?

But it wasn't as if he would just let the man stay out in the streets (he didn't think depending on Lovino was a good idea)…and he would be getting a good house with part of the money he had kept. Enough room for two, surely. Not to mention they were…well, _together_ now. If that was what they were…It was all a bit confusing, and just thinking about it made him turn red.

"Really, ve? You would do that for me?" Feliciano asked. Ludwig nodded, not really sure he trusted his mouth to say anything at the moment.

"Wow! Thanks! Though I think my brother would be mad if I didn't ask him first…but I won't need a place to stay for a while yet." Feliciano gave him a bright smile, satisfied to just see what would happen before making any decisions.

Ludwig relaxed. He was right, they had plenty of time to think about such things.

"Oh yeah, and Ludwig?" Feliciano said, interrupting his thoughts. He didn't have time to answer before warm lips pressed against his own.

It was a short and sweet kiss that ended when Gilbert called to them.

"Hey you two! Quit making out! We gotta go now if we're going to make to the train station on time- unless you're planning on staying here with them!" Gilbert said, pointing towards Francis and Matthew.

Ludwig felt embarrassed at being caught doing such a thing by his brother of all people, but felt better when he saw Feliciano's happy face. They said their goodbyes to Francis and Matthew, who were going to meet Alfred and Arthur after all, seeing as they now knew they would be in a much better mood then they thought.

Together the three, Gilbert bragging about all the things he was now going to do with his money while Ludwig listened with Feliciano's hand warm in his own, walked towards the station.

They had a train to catch.

* * *

**Author's Notes: ** The End!

Woah... it's done. I'm not sure whether I should cry or jump for joy. This has really been a great experience...especially with this story being my first serious fan ficiton (I did one that I will never ever talk about on some forum long ago, really, it was horrible) and definitely my first Hetalia fan fiction. I have a couple of mistakes, especially grammer and spelling, that I really appreciate you all putting up with. But I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. I hope you guys have all enjoyed this as much as I have!

My next fan fiction (yes there will be another one, sick of me yet? XD) will be Hetalia, and primarily USUK with supernatural creepiness. And romance. Yeah, I need to work on my romance, and I think it will be easier in this one seeing as I'll only do the POVs of those two. But this probably won't see the light of for a while seeing as *GASP* I want to finish it before I post it! This is mostly because I want to work really hard on this and make sure everything fits together, and I want it to update weekly. And seeing as I'm entering my senior year of high school, I will be super busy, and the only plausible way to update weekly is to have it written already. Plus I'm pretty sure I write better when I'm not so stressed about getting this up. So look out for this story!

And again you guys, the readers, make all of this worth while. I love you all.

**Thank you everyone!**


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